by Karen Frazier

Tendergrass farms makes a tasty grass-fed, sugar-free Italian sausage. I really like it, and so I enjoy using it in soups, spaghetti sauce (with zucchini spaghetti of course), and other recipes. In the fall when delicious mushrooms are so abundant, I especially enjoy mushroom dishes, which is why you’re seeing so many of them in my recipe feed lately.

This soup is delicious and hearty. It really hits the spot on a cold fall evening. I use my typical thickening method…pureeing the vegetables and adding them back into the broth, because it works so well.

Mushroom Soup with Italian Sausage and Fennel

• 1 bulb organic garlic, the top sliced off
• 2 tablespoons melted fat (lard, duck fat, etc.)
• Sprinkling of sea salt
• Sprinkling of organic chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 package organic dried porcini mushrooms
• 6 cups homemade beef or chicken bone broth
• 3 tablespoons melted fat (I use duck fat)
• 1 pound sugar-free, organic pastured pork Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 pound seasonal organic mushrooms (can be any variety), sliced
• 1 bulb organic fennel, chopped
• 1/4 cup dry sherry (or more broth)
• 1 teaspoon organic dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper.
• Two tablespoons chopped organic fennel fronds

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the cut garlic heads on a large piece of foil. Drizzle them with two tablespoons of the melted fat and sprinkle them with salt and rosemary. Wrap them in the foil. Roast the garlic in the preheated oven for about 90 minutes, until soft. Allow it to cool slightly, and then squeeze the cloves out of the papery skin and into a bowl. Set aside.
2. In a large saucepan, heat the bone broth until it simmers. Remove the broth from the heat and add the dried porcini mushrooms. Cover and allow the mushrooms to soak until they are soft, about two hours.
3. In a large dutch oven, heat three tablespoons of fat over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the Italian sausage and cook, breaking the sausage apart with a spoon, until it is browned, five to seven minutes. Remove the sausage from the fat with a slotted spoon and set aside on a platter.
4. Add the onion to the fat in the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it softens and begins to brown, five to seven minutes. Remove the onions from the fat with a slotted spoon and set it aside in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal chopping blade.
5. If needed, add a little more fat to the pan. Over medium-high heat, cook the mushrooms in the fat, stirring occasionally, until they soften, seven to ten minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the fat with a slotted spoon. Put half of the mushrooms into the food processor with the onions and put the remaining half on the platter with the Italian sausage.
6. Add the fennel to the remaining fat in the pan (or add a bit more if necessary). Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the fennel is soft, five to seven minutes.
7. Add the red wine to the pot. Using the side of your spoon, scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
8. Use a slotted spoon to remove the reconstituted porcini mushrooms from the stock and put them in the food processor with the other vegetables. Pour the stock into the cooking pot.
9. Add the cooked sausage and mushrooms from the platter, thyme, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to the pot. Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow it to simmer.
10. Meanwhile, add the roasted garlic to the food processor with the mushrooms and onions. Process until the vegetables form a smooth paste, 30 seconds to one minute.
11. Stir the vegetables back into the pot of soup to thicken it.
12. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the soup warms through, about five more minutes. Adjust seasoning as necessary.
13. Serve garnished with fennel fronds.

For an easier to make but still paleo version, but with a slightly higher carb count (about 12 g per serving versus about 7 g per serving):

• 1 package organic dried porcini mushrooms
• 6 cups homemade beef or chicken bone broth
• 3 tablespoons melted fat (I use duck fat)
• 1 pound sugar-free, organic pastured pork Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 pound seasonal organic mushrooms (can be any variety), sliced
• 1 bulb organic fennel, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup dry sherry (or more broth)
• 1 teaspoon organic dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper.
• 1/4 cup arrowroot powder
• 1/4 cup water
• Two tablespoons chopped organic fennel fronds

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the cut garlic heads on a large piece of foil. Drizzle them with two tablespoons of the melted fat and sprinkle them with salt and rosemary. Wrap them in the foil. Roast the garlic in the preheated oven for about 90 minutes, until soft. Allow it to cool slightly, and then squeeze the cloves out of the papery skin and into a bowl. Set aside.
2. In a large saucepan, heat the bone broth until it simmers. Remove the broth from the heat and add the dried porcini mushrooms. Cover and allow the mushrooms to soak until they are soft, about two hours. Remove the mushrooms from the broth and chop them roughly. Return them to the broth.
3. In a large dutch oven, heat three tablespoons of fat over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the Italian sausage and cook, breaking the sausage apart with a spoon, until it is browned, five to seven minutes. Remove the sausage from the fat with a slotted spoon and set aside on a platter.
4. Add the onion to the fat in the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it softens and begins to brown, five to seven minutes. Remove the onions from the fat with a slotted spoon and set it aside with the sausage.
5. If needed, add a little more fat to the pan. Over medium-high heat, cook the mushrooms in the fat, stirring occasionally, until they soften and brown, seven to ten minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the fat with a slotted spoon. Set them aside with the sausage.
6. Add the fennel to the remaining fat in the pan (or add a bit more if necessary). Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the fennel is soft, five to seven minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until it is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
7. Add the sherry to the pot. Using the side of your spoon, scrape any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
8. Pour the stock into the cooking pot. Add the cooked sausage, mushrooms, and onions back to the pot along with the thyme, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.
9. Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow it to simmer.
10. In a small bowl, whisk together the arrowroot powder and water. Pour them into the simmering pot, stirring constantly, until the soup thickens slightly.
11. Adjust seasoning as necessary.
12. Serve garnished with fennel fronds.

photo credit: RonjaNilsson via photopin cc