Bean, Butternut, Chard and Sausage Soup in IP

White beans, butternut squash, chard & sausage make for a delightful winter soup.

I was inspired by this recipe and modified it as I went along. As I was using red chard, I decided to include its stems in the soup instead of the celery. If you leave the soup chunky, it will add an awesome contrast to the color!

I halved the amount of beans from the recipe, keeping the same bean-to-broth ratio.  The beans were cooked for 45 minutes in chicken broth with fresh herbs.

After a 10 minute release, I added in 1 lb of butternut squash cubes, but eliminated the carrots. If your squash isn’t very sweet, you might need to supplement with carrots for sweetness. Cook again under high pressure. After natural release, I pureed the soup (I wasn’t intending to puree it all, but stuff happens 🙂 ), then added in the chard and simmered for 10 minutes. I ate this with a dollop of pesto, and some heavy cream.

This was pretty good, but missing a certain something. Enter- sausage. I cooked up an Irish banger sausage (not much flavor except that of the pork, and FATTY!), and added this to the soup, and simmered it a little more. Oh my- it made all the difference. I didn’t need any pesto or cream to enjoy the sausage version. You could, in theory, add the sausage in at any point, but I’m writing the recipe adding it just before the last simmer.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb dry white beans (or any beans of your choice)
• 1 lb cubed butternut squash – OR – 1/2 lb butternut & 2 carrots
• One bunch (6 leaves) red chard- stems chopped like celery. Leaves coarsely ripped.
• half a medium onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 sausage, cut lengthwise and then into 1/2″ pcs. (I used Irish Banger sausage)
• 2 sprigs rosemary (one kept whole, one finely chopped)
• 1 sprig thyme
• 4 cups chicken broth (I use low sodium)
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Method:

Set the IP on Saute. When hot, add the olive oil and swirl. Add onions and garlic.

When onions are translucent, add the chard stems and saute another 2 minutes. Turn IP off.

Add the beans, broth, and one sprig each of rosemary and thyme.

Cook under high pressure for 45 minutes. 5 minute release.

Add the butternut squash (and any optional carrots) to IP, and S&P to taste. I added 2 tsp coarse salt at this point, along with a few spins of the pepper mill. Close IP again, and cook under high pressure for 20 minutes. 10 minute release. Puree very lightly so that you have ample chunks (I got distracted and pureed the whole thing. Hard to appreciate pretty red chard once you’ve pureed it O_o ).

Meanwhile, brown the sausage pieces in a small pan.

Turn IP off, and then set to Low Saute. Add the chopped rosemary, chopped chard leaves, and sausage to IP. Spoon 1 tbsp of the fat rendered from the sausage into the soup. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with optional heavy cream.

This soup takes a little longer to cook than straight up bean soup because of the break to add squash in the middle, but it is well worth the extra time.