Kielbasa and Potato Soup

This is one our favorite soups and one of the easiest things to make with one of our sausages. The kielbasa already has the meatiness, the garlic, the black pepper and the herbs, so all you need is:

1 pound of fresh kielbasa from The Piggery
Cubed Potatoes – 2 or 3 pounds, we like a good waxy fingerling potato
Liquid – A half gallon or so of some combination of milk, stock or cream
Salt
A little cooking fat, preferably lard from the piggery

Start by frying the kielbasa in a medium-large pot in a little bit of your cooking fat on medium high heat until it browns nicely on both sides. It doesn’t need to be fully cooked. Remove the kielbasa from the heat and add your cubed potatoes and liquid to the pot. We like to use a half gallon or so of whole milk, but sometimes use half milk and half stock. Or if we’ve got stock and cream then we’ll use those. Whatever you can come up with, really. Anyhoo, bring the liquid to a simmer and maintain the heat until the potatoes soften. While the potatoes are cooking, slice your sausages into good sizes to fit on a soup spoon. When the potatoes are done, thicken the soup by pulling out some of the potatoes, maybe a third of them, mashing them with a wooden spoon and whisking some of the hot liquid from the soup back into them. Mix that potato mixture back into the soup, return it to a simmer, and add your sausage pieces. Season with salt and eat as soon as the sausage pieces are fully cooked.