A DASH of Cooking: Bacon, Kielbasa, Kale & Pierogi Soup

Fall finally decided to show up

This past week has been, well, really wet and cold! October definitely decided to show up hard. I personally love this type of weather because it’s an excellent excuse to make a cozy bowl of soup! I have quite the repertoire of soups at this point, but this one has been a favorite lately. It’s like all the flavors I love in the fall in a wonderful creamy broth. A refuge from the damp and chilly weather in a single bowl.

This soup will take about 30 minutes to cook. The pierogies I’m using I picked up at my local specialty grocery store, but you can also get similar peirogies at major grocery stores like Safeway and QFC. Look for a smaller pierogi as this is something you will need to be able to tackle with a spoon once it becomes a part of this soup. Additionally, if chopping vegetables is not something you can do easily, I have purchased pre-chopped kale and carrots/onion mixes at the grocery store and used those. I would recommend that you look through the chopped kale for errant stems that will be a tough encounter in soup. Also look for overly large pieces of carrot or onion and cut those down or remove all together.

Last weekend Seattle had an incredible wind and rain storm that my husband and I are still cleaning up from. We really needed something to warm our bones. I whipped this soup out to make Sunday evening especially warm and relaxing ahead of the week. I served this with some rustic bread for dipping, and some candles and wine to really up the cozy factor. Enjoy!

Bacon, Kielbasa, Kale, & Pierogi Soup

Based on Better Homes & Gardens’ Pierogi, Kale and Sausage Soup

Christensen, Jessica, editor. “Pierogi, Kale, and Sausage Soup.” Better Homes & Gardens Special Interest Publications Soups & Stews, 2018, pp. 39–39.

Ingredients

4 Slices Bacon, chopped

1/2 of a 14 oz. kielbasa, sliced

1 large chopped carrot

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

6 cups of low sodium chicken broth

1 bunch kale, stemmed and chopped

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 12.84 pkg. frozen small pierogies (potato, cheese, onion, mushroom would all be delicious in this soup)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Instructions

1. In a large pot, cook bacon over medium heat, stirring occasionally until brown and crisp. Remove bacon from pan and drain on paper towels.
2. Next cook the kielbasa in the pot in the bacon drippings until browned slightly. Remove the kielbasa from the pot and drain on paper towels.
3. Add the chopped carrtos, onions, and garlic to the pot and cook in the drippings for approximately 5 minutes.
4. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring continuously for 2 minutes.
5. Slowly stir the broth into the onion-carrot mixture. Then add the bacon and kielbasa back. Bring ingredients to a boil. Stir in the kale and pepper then return to boil. Stir in the pierogies; return to boiling. Simmer, uncovered until pierogies are tender, stiring occassionally. This is about 6-10 minutes depending on the type of pierogies used.
6. Stir in the cream and heat through.

Makes about 6-8 servings depending on how hungry everyone is and how much bread you end up eating with it (omg I love bread!)