portuguese kale soup with linguica

Have you ever seen such a beautiful soup? Chunky with linguica, which is a Portuguese pork sausage that is lean and tasty with spices, and loaded with that beautiful ( and healthy!) kale, throw in some potatoes and a few kidney beans and you have a lovely meal.
I grew up on Cape Cod, and my stepfather was Portuguese - put those two together and you'll understand why this soup was a familiar and eagerly anticipated meal.
If you've never heard of linguica, it's a lean pork dry sausage with lots of spices and herbs. Unlike its cousin, chorizo, it is not hot, as in way too spicy for me. I'm lucky enough to find it at my local supermarket, but if you can't find it, just go to Gaspar's Sausage (http://www.gasparssausage.com/) and you can order some online.

To make:

1 coil of linguica ( it's sold that way)
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 T. olive oil
about 6-8 cups chopped kale, stems removed
6 red or white potatoes, large dice
1 can kidney beans, drained
3 cups chicken stock
3 cups beef stock
pinch of dried thyme
1/2 large can italian plum tomatoes, with juice, chopped
2 T. medium salsa, Green Mountain Gringo preferred

Place olive oil in large pot and heat. Add onions and garlic and stir until a little browned.
Add chicken and beef stocks to pot.
Cut linguica into 1 inch pieces and add to pot.
Add large diced potatoes to pot.
Add thyme to pot.

Bring pot to a simmer and cook for a half hour. (You can add water to pot if the stock doesn't cover the potatoes and linguica)

Add kale.
Add tomatoes.
Add salsa and kidney beans.

Add more water or stock if necessary.

Cook another half hour. Serve with rustic bread and butter, for dunking !

If you prefer a slightly spicier soup, add hot pepper sauce or pepper flakes.

This soup improves as it ages.

This is my entry into the Tastes to Remember blog event:
http://sarah-cooking.blogspot.com/2008/04/tastes-to-remember-blogging-event.html