Caldo Verde and Pesto-Asiago Crostini

We got a massive head of curly kale this week. We're eating it in massaged salads as usual, but we thought it might also be nice to cook it in a soup. Caldo Verde is a hearty, spicy Portuguese soup. The recipe is here, from epicurious. The crostini recipe we made up, and ingredients/directions for that are below.

Caldo Verde:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1/2 pound chourico or linguica (smoked Portuguese sausage) or kielbasa, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound russet (baking) potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

6 cups water (Adrienne's Note: the comments to this recipe suggested substituting water with chicken stock, which I think is a good idea)

1 pound kale, stems and center ribs discarded and leaves very thinly sliced

Accompaniment: piri-piri sauce or other hot sauce

Directions:

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 5-quarter heavy pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then brown sausage, stirring often, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Add 2 tablespoon oil to fat in pot and cook onion and garlic with 1/4 teaspoon each or salt and pepper over medium heat, stirring often, until browned, 7 to 8 minutes. Add potatoes, water, and 1 teaspoon salt and simmer (Adrienne's Note: use medium heat), covered, until potatotes are very tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Mash some potatoes into soup to thicken, then add kale and simmer, uncovered, until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in sausage and cook until just heated through, 1 to 2 minutes. Drizzle with remaining tablespoon oil and season with salt and pepper.

Pesto-Asiago Crostini

Ingredients:

day-old baguette, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds

pesto

grated Asiago cheese

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Smear each round with pesto. Place each round onto cookie sheet and sprinkle Asiago cheese over the rounds. Bake until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes.