Cooking Lesson #227: Instant Pot Portuguese Sausage Soup

… from the California Kitchen

How you doin’? A few years back I was traveling to Lisbon every month to work on projects for two clients. Two foods I fell in love with were Bacalhau (dried cod) and Portuguese sausage (Linguiça), which I was told every Portuguese person craves, too.  Apparently, there are over 1001 ways to cook Bacalhau and there are almost as many formulations for homemade Linguiça.

Almost every meal in Lisbon starts with soup and my hearty and tasty Portuguese Sausage Soup is the perfect way to begin a lunch or dinner. At the Pingo Doce central kitchens we produced over 25,000 liters of homemade-style soup every day to ship out to their grocery stores and restaurants. This soup was on the weekly rotation—you might want to put it on yours. The best thing about this recipe is that you really have to work hard to screw it up. Don’t have an ingredient? No problem... substitute it with something else you have in your pantry.
 
Prep time:  20 minutes
Cook time:  30 minutes
Yield:  8 servings
 
Ingredients
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrot
1 pound sliced smoked sausage (I prefer Linguiça)
4 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 medium head cabbage, rough chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed (use Yukon Gold or White Rose; do not use Russets)
2 (15-ounce) cans kidney beans, drained
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
2 cups of beef stock
8 cups water (you can fill the insert pot to the maximum limit line)
2 tablespoons beef bouillon (I prefer Better Than Bouillon brand)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup white vinegar
 
Directions

1. Set the SAUTÉ function on the Instant Pot and heat the oil in the insert until it ripples.
2. Cook the onions in oil until just tender.
3. Stir celery and carrots and cook 5 minutes more.
4. Sir in the sausage and cook an additional 5 minutes
5. Add the garlic, cabbage, potatoes, beans, tomato paste, stock, water and bouillon in the pot.
6.  Season with the garlic powder, pepper and salt.
7. Add the red wine and vinegar.
8. CANCEL the SAUTÉ function
9. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and set the PRESSURE on HIGH for 22 MINUTES.
10. Let it sit for FIVE MINUTES, then NATUALLY RELEASE by opening the pressure release valve; carefully remove the lid.
11. Stir the soup and add more water if necessary.

ChefSecret:  Linguiça is a type of Portuguese sausage and refers to a smoke-cured pork sausage seasoned with garlic and paprika used in recipes from Portugal and Brazil.

Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “My therapist told me to write letters to people I don’t like and then burn ‘em.  I’ve done that and now I don’t know what to do with the letters.”
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