In The Mood For Caldo Verde

Caldo Verde is a Portuguese soup that is TO DIE FOR. It's Portugal in a bowl. The ingredients are so simple and the end result so satisfying.

• 3-4 medium sized sweet potatoes (the white ones),or 6 to 8 medium sized potatoes, peeled and sliced thin (like potato au gratin style)
• One big sweet onion (spanish or yellow), minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 TB olive oil
• 1 TB butter
• 10 ounces chourico, chorizo, or pepperoni if you can't find those, sliced thin (I used pork chourico that wasn't in a casing and it worked great, found at Sprouts)
  
• 3 Liters cold Water
• 1 lb Kale (this is what I used) or Collard Greens, washed, middle vein removed, and julienned (use a basil chiffonade technique)
  

Put 3 TB olive oil and 1 TB butter in the bottom of a big heavy saucepan and on med-high heat, cook the onions and garlic for about 2-3 minutes until onion becomes translucent being careful not to brown the onion.
Once onion is translucent, add potatoes and saute until they start to get some color, about 3-4 minutes.
Once the potatoes are getting some color, add the water, cover the pot, bring to a boil and cook for about 20-25 minutes.
While the potatoes are cooking, julienne the greens (there will be a lot of it, don't worry, it's supposed to be that way)
and cook the chourico in a skillet until most the fat is cooked out. (If you are using a sausage with casing, remove the casing before you cook it)
Drain fat from sausage and set aside until the potatoes are ready.
Once the potatoes are soft, take a potato masher and mash the potatoes in the pot.
Next, add the sausage and lastly add the greens to the pot. Let cook for another 5 minutes until the greens incorporate into the soup. Taste for salt and pepper and pour the last Tablespoon of Olive Oil over top. serve with bread.

Here is a link to a website with some good visuals and a little more traditional recipe.