Wildcard Soup

A hearty soup made from odds and ends in the fridge. Great for watching football games with cold beer. You can also add left-over chicken, steak, bacon, mashed potatoes, veggies, etc.

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 1  tablespoon  oil
• 1 (16 ounce) package  fully-cooked Polish sausage
• 1  large yellow onion
• 3  celery ribs
• 3  carrots
• 1  bunch green onion
• 5  garlic cloves, chopped
• 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
• 4  tablespoons flour
• 3 -4  slices  rye bread, crusts removed
• 48  ounces  chicken stock (canned is fine)

Directions

1. Chop yellow onion to rough dice.
2. Chop celery, carrot and green onion into 1/4" thick slices.
3. Slice sausage to 1/4 thick rounds.
4. Chop green onion to 1/4 thick slices.
5. Heat large pot over medium-high heat. Add oil.
6. Saute sausage in oil 5 - 7 minutes, until slightly brown, and fat has rendered out. Remove sausage from pan, but not fat.
7. In sausage fat, saute yellow onion, celery and carrots until tender (5 - 7 minutes). Add green onion and garlic and continue cooking 2 minutes.
8. Combine cooked sausage with vegetables in pan. Add black pepper and sprinkle flour over the mixture. Stir to prevent flour from sticking to bottom of pan. Cook 2 minutes, or until flour is lightly browned, stirring entire time.
9. Add 16 oz of stock, and stir well. The flour will cause the stock to thicken quickly. Continue adding stock and stirring until all stock has been added and soup has smoothed to a consistency you like.
10. Rub bread briskly between hands to form rough crumbs and allow to fall into soup. Bring to boil then reduce to simmer, cover and cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste.
11. Serve with slices of fresh buttered french bread and cold beer, ideally with a football game -- .