Souper Sunday #15: Corn and Wild Rice Soup with Smoked Sausage

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Lazy Sundays...they're the best.

 

Today has been a soup-making, novel-reading kind of a day, with a quick pop-in from my mom (including a glass of wine - now you see that I come by it honestly!) in the middle to add to it.  My mom brought over containers of two home-made soups that she had made this weekend (again, you can see that I come by it honestly!), and they were both amazing.  The two kinds were Curried Cauliflower and Split Pea and Ham, and you will be seeing those recipes on here as soon as enough Souper Sundays go by that I can make them.  The laundry awaits me shortly, but for now I am content sitting here typing this while sipping on a cup of David's Tea 'Alpine Blend' while The Hubby has a cat nap.


For my regular readers, you may have noticed that there was no Souper Sunday post last week.  Instead of making a soup post, last Sunday I was coming back from a whirlwind, fun-filled, action-packed weekend in Las Vegas with The Hubby and four other friends.  I was....tired, to say the least.  :)   But, it's Souper Sunday again today, and this time up I wanted to make a non-pureed soup after The Hubby's comment of, "baby food again?" three weeks ago.  Side note - he ate almost the entire batch of soup that time, so baby food can't be that bad in his mind.  I chose this corn-based soup with wild rice and chunks of smoked sausage.  The corn is used in two ways - half of it is in whole kernels, and the other half is pureed, so the soup has a great creaminess to it.  I also used a spicy sausage, which gave the soup a nice nose-running kick.  This is the perfect hearty soup for these early days of spring, when it's still a little chilly where I live.      

I highly recommend this one...I hope you like it too!

Corn and Wild Rice Soup with Smoked Sausage

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 12 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/4 cups wild rice
• 6 1/4 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 10 ounces fully cooked smoked sausage (such as kielbasa), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 3 carrots, peeled, diced
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
• Chopped fresh chives and/or parsley, or garnish (optional)

Directions
Bring 5 cups broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add the wild rice, and simmer for about 40 minutes, or until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is almost tender, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, blend 3 3/4 cups of the thawed corn and 1 1/2 cups of the chicken broth together in a food processor until it becomes a thick and almost smooth puree.  Heat the vegetable oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat.  Add the sausage and saute until it begins to brown, about 5 minutes.  Add the carrots and onions, and saute for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add the remaining 6 cups of chicken broth and bring the mixture to a simmer.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer the soup for an additional 15 minutes.

Add the cooked wild rice, the corn puree, and the remaining 2 1/2 cups corn kernels to the soup.  Cook until the wild rice is very tender, about 15 minutes.  Stir in the half-and-half.  If you prefer a thinner soup, add more chicken broth.  Season soup with salt and pepper, to taste.  Garnish with chives and parsley, if using.  Enjoy!

Recipe Source:  Bon Appetit - November 1995