Sausage, Potato and Kale Gratin

I made this tasty soup over the weekend and had a bunch of kale leftover from it.  While I like adding a little kale into my lettuce mixture for a salad, we don't eat salads every day.  And kale stands up so well to cooking, so in order for it not to go to waste, I was forced to put my thinking cap on and figure out what to do with the rest of it. 

This is what I came up with.

And by George it was good!  See those crunchy pieces of cheese on the edge?  Ohhhh... those make my heart sing.

What You'll Need:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups kale
• 1 clove garlic
• 3 potatoes, sliced, seperate into three piles
• 3 cups grated colby jack cheese, seperate into three piles
• 1/2 pound sausage
• 2/3 cups chicken stock
• salt and pepper

What You Do:

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Brown sausage over medium heat. 

While sausage is cooking, chop up the potatoes, kale and garlic and grate the cheese.

When sausage is done, drain off grease.  Melt 1 tablespoon of butter over low heat.  Add the kale and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Add the garlic and a dash of salt and pepper.  Cook for another 2 minutes and remove from heat.

Grease the bottom of a baking dish with butter or Pam.  Layer one-third of the potatoes in the dish.  Top with a third of the cheese and 1/2 the sausage. 

Spread ALL the kale over the sausage. 

Add another pile of the potatoes, cheese and the remaining sausage. 

Add the last pile of potatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and top with the remaining cheese.

Dot the top with 1 tablespoon butter and pour the chicken broth over it all.

Cover and bake for 15 minutes.  Remove cover and bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

Now dig in!