Italian sausage and fingerling potatoes in a flavorful broth, simply delicious. Sprinkling flour over the meat mixture turns this soup into a creamier and thicker broth. Toss in a a bay leaf and a sprig of rosemary makes this a savory delight. This Fingerling Potato Italian Sausage Soup is one of our favorites.
Colorado Grown Potatoes
This year’s Colorado harvest of tiny fingerling and new potatoes have given us some of the sweetest and most flavorful I can remember.
I’m smug to announce that I have generous supply of these little gems. Thanks to two trips out to Brighton to our vegetable farms this Fall.
Northeast of Denver, you’ll find acres and acres of sweet corn, potatoes, sugar beets, tomatoes, cabbage, peppers…the lineup of vegetables goes on and on. Roadside markets offer a large selection of locally grown vegetables and food products. If you’ve ever flown into DIA, our airport sits not far South of this farming community.
Our San Luis Valley, is also a big producer of Colorado Potatoes.
I think the history of the area is fascinating. For those of you who have read James Michener’s Centennial, you know it depicts the history of pioneers heading west with focus on the Front Range of Colorado. In true Michener style, he begins in the 1800’s with relationships with Indian tribes and early French trappers. He then guides us through time with pioneers traveling to Colorado in covered wagons followed by Army troops building forts and negotiating with Native Americans. Centennial finally ends with the business rivalries between cattle and sheep ranchers, and vegetable farmers.
“Potato” Brumbaugh was a colorful immigrant featured in the book. He settled in the Denver area and planted potato farms and recruited Japanese families to help build his farming empire. Today, several of those farms are still owned and operated by descendants of those original Japanese families.
Most likely Brumbaugh’s character was depicting “Potato” Clark. Rufus Clark arrived in Denver via ox-pulled covered wagon with his wife and child in July 1859. He staked out a large farm in an area that became Overland Municipal Golf Course, along the South Platte River across from Ruby Hill. Clark made a fortune selling potatoes to miners, subsequently venturing into real estate. At one time, his landholdings included nearly 20,000 acres, much of it located in the area that became Greenwood Village and Cherry Hills Village. He divided the acreage into plots and provided irrigation to encourage farmers to move West.
I just read that Colorado is the fourth largest potato producing state, following Idaho, Washington and Wisconsin.
So with all that said, let’s talk about these sweet little fingerlings and this delicious soup.
Recipe for Fingerling Potato Italian Sausage Soup
Why This Recipe Works:
- Sprinkling flour over the meat mixture turns this soup into a creamy sausage and potato soup.
- Fresh locally grown fingerling potatoes are sweet, tender and absolutely divine. If you can’t find fingerling, small potatoes, or new potatoes are an excellent choice.
- Toss in a a bay leaf and a sprig of rosemary makes this a savory delight.
- I’ve also made this with the addition of fresh spinach leaves just before serving.
With all that said, grab some potatoes and give this recipe a try. This is one of our favorite Italian Sausage Soup Recipes.
More Sausage Soup Recipes
- Creamy Sauerkraut and Sausage Soup with Potatoes
- Chorizo Soup with Chickpeas and Cabbage
- Italian Sausage Soup
And if you love soup as much as we do, don’t miss my Soup Category. You’ll find lots of great soup, chili and stew recipes including the most popular recipe on my site for Anthony Bourdain’s New Mexico Style Beef Chili.
Fingerling Potato and Sausage Soup
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound mild Italian sausage
- 1 small sweet onion sliced into thin strips end to end
- 1 large clove garlic crushed
- 2 Tablespoons All-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 Cups Chicken broth
- 1 pound fingerling potatoes cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 2 piece Fresh rosemary
- 1/4 teaspoon Red pepper flakes
- 1 1/2 Cups Half and half
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Brown sausage in a large saucepan or Dutch oven set over medium high heat, breaking it up as it cooks. When it is starting to brown, add onion and cook until they are wilted and transparent; add garlic and cook for one minute longer, stirring frequently.
- Sprinkle flour over the top of the sausage mixture and quickly stir in. At this point the mixture will be very dry in appearance. While stirring, slowly add the chicken broth; stir until it comes to a boil. Add the potatoes, bay leaf, rosemary and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil before reducing the heat to low.
- Cover and simmer until the potatoes are fork tender, approximately 30-40 minutes. Add the half and half and salt and pepper. Simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Remove the rosemary stem and bay leaf. Serve piping hot.
Nutrition
Creamy Fingerling Potato and Sausage Soup …It’s What’s for Dinner.
I love those little fingerling potatoes. This soup reminds me of the copykat recipe I use from Olive Garden (zupa toscana). It’s delish!
I think I’ve got that Zuppa Toscana recipe in my database.
That soup sounds right up my alley with the italian sausage and potatoes. Did not realize you guys were such potato producers over there, interesting to know.
Simple and delicious. I’m an Italian Sausage fan … so this is one of my favorite soups.