Sausage, Bean and Green Soup

This is a Rachel Ray recipe that was featured on Kitchen Stewardship. Michael said it was the best soup I ever made! So I thought I'd better share it here too. (But I changed the name slightly.)

Ingredients:

2 Tbs Extra-virgin olive oil (I omitted this b/c who needs extra oil to cook sausage in??)
1/2 or 1 lb. bulk Italian sweet or hot sausage (can use roll sausage)
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
1 large potato, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed
salt and pepper
4 c. fresh kale (or other leafy green like spinach)
2 quarts chicken broth or stock
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano, to pass at table

Method:
Heat medium soup pot over medium-high heat (medium-low if using EVOO!). Add the oil and sausage and brown. Add veggies, bay leaf and beans. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes to soften veggies. Add greens and wilt. Add stock and cover. Raise heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Serve with grated cheese for topping.

Sarah's notes: Like I said above, I didn't even bother with the EVOO since I don't think sausage requires any extra oil. For the green, I used pureed spinach which I had in the freezer. I waited until the end to add it so that I could give Michael his portion first without leaves and then serve everyone else. I figured a pureed green would also be the most kid friendly. I also didn't have any potatoes, so I didn't use them. Oh well! It was quite tasty.