Smoked Bratwurst Sausage Soup/Stew

On Saturday, I was looking for something to make for lunch, but I didn't have a lot to work with, plus I had a bunch of stuff in my fridge nearing the end of its shelf life. Basically, I wanted to make something delicious out of the dregs of my fridge and cupboard. So I decided on soup or stew - again - because it's very forgiving on what you can put into it. I did an extensive recipe search but nothing I found fit what I had on hand, so I just started from scratch. I had some smoked bratwurst sausages (Johnsonville brand - unbelievably delicious, especially barbecued and eaten on a bun) that needed to be eaten and I thought they could work well in a soup/stew, so here's what I put together:

Ingredients

3 smoked bratwurst sausages, cut into small bite-sized pieces

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 white onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped

about 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 can whole sweet kernel corn (you could use frozen as well)

several baby potatoes, quartered

1-2 tsp dried thyme (depending on taste)

1 tbsp dried parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Method

I warmed the olive oil in a medium sized dutch oven (you can use a soup pot or heavy sauce pan instead) over medium high heat, then added the cut up sausage and cooked it for several minutes, until it browned up. Then I added the onion, celery, and red pepper and cooked it for several more minutes, until the vegetables began to soften. (I put the lid on the dutch oven and stirred the mixture several times while it was cooking to ensure everything cooked evenly.)

Once the veggies were soft, I added a couple cups of vegetable stock (I didn't have any chicken stock in my cupboard, otherwise I think I would have used that instead) and the can of corn (liquid included). Then I added the potatoes and spices, mixed it all up, put the lid on and let it simmer for close to an hour, stirring occasionally. If there doesn't seem to be enough liquid, add a bit more stock or water, but be careful not to add too much or you'll have watery soup (which can be remedied later, but will affect the flavour).

Once the potatoes are soft, taste your soup! Chances are you'll have to add more spices, especially salt. After adding any additional seasonings, make sure you stir well and let it simmer for a couple more minutes before tasting again, to ensure the flavours have had a chance to mingle.

If your soup is thin, like mine was, you can add some flour or cornstarch mixed with water to thicken it up. I used flour; I mixed a couple tablespoons of it with cold water in a mug, and then ran it through a strainer into the soup and stirred immediately to prevent lumps. It only took a couple minutes to thicken up. Depending on how thick you like it, you'll end up with a either a soup or stew consistency. (Another trick I learned from a corn chowder recipe is to use creamed corn instead of or in addition to the whole kernel corn to help thicken it up, although I would add it after the potatoes have cooked so they can easily absorb the water they need.)

Upon tasting, I give this simple recipe a thumbs up. The smoky, salty flavour of the bratwurst sausages went very well with the sweetness of the corn and red pepper (for that reason, as my husband said, this would also taste great with bacon. Mmmmm... bacon). The thyme added a nice level of flavour as well. (I am coming to the conclusion that thyme tastes good in just about everything; it's my number one go-to spice.) Overall, I was pleased with how this slap-together soup turned out - lots of flavour and nutrition for minimal work. Now that's some good cookin'.