Hi, I’m Gemma, your kitchen confidant, sautéing savant, and wannabe chef. I’m pairing up with The Argus to share some recipes I’ve been devising in my humble Low Rise kitchen. These recipes are designed to use minimal cookware and Weshop or Food Co-op ingredients, while also being fairly hands-off. 

My first recipe was inspired by our current February produce bounty (boring), as well as the ground pork I haphazardly selected from this week’s co-op offerings. This soup is somewhat hard to make vegetarian, although you could hypothetically double the amount of oil and spices used and crumble in some tofu. 

Pork, Potato, and Kale Soup

Serving: 4-5

Ingredients

1 large white onion 

1/2 bunch curly kale (or a green of choice, preferably a sturdier one)

3 potatoes

1 lb ground pork 

2 tbsp olive oil 

4 cups stock (chicken, veg, whatever your heart desires)

Crushed red pepper flakes

Fennel seeds (optional) 

1 tbsp miso paste (optional)

Parmesan (freshly grated if you can…it’s 100x better)

Salt and pepper

A good loaf of (hopefully co-op!) bread

Instructions

1. Finely dice the onion, cube the potatoes, and tear the kale into small pieces. 
2. Heat two tbsp olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. 
3. Add in the ground pork once the oil is hot. Cook until entirely golden brown, stirring infrequently to maximize browning.
4. Season with salt, pepper, fennel seeds (if using), and red pepper flakes (if you like it hot).
5. Once browned, remove the pork from the pot, but try to keep as much of the rendered fat in the pot as possible. 
6. Add the diced onions into the pot and cook in the pork fat until translucent and fragrant (five mins). 
7. Add the potatoes and toss them in with the onions. Let them sauté for two minutes, just enough to get them coated in all that meaty goodness. 
8. Add in the stock and miso paste, if using, bringing it up to a boil and then reducing to a simmer. 
9. Cook for 15–20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
10. Add in the kale and stir until wilted. 
11. Add your cooked pork and give it one last good mix. 
12. Serve with a healthy amount of grated parm, some crusty bread, and some extra black pepper. 

Gemmarosa Ryan can be reached at gryan@wesleyan.edu.