Grünkohl mit Pinkel – braised kale with sausage and potatoes

Pull the tough stalks from the kale and cut out the thick ribs; discard them. Wash the leaves thoroughly, drain and weigh out 1 kg. Finely chop the onion. Choose traditional smoked Pinkel in edible natural casings, intended for approximately 30 minutes of cooking or poaching before serving. Leave the sausages in the refrigerator until the final stage of braising.

Bring 3 l water to a boil in a large pot. Add the leaves in batches to the same water and blanch each batch for 2–3 minutes, until wilted. Lift them into a colander with a slotted spoon. Discard the water after blanching. Once the leaves have cooled slightly, gently squeeze out excess water and coarsely chop the kale. Discard the drained liquid as well.

Heat the lard in a wide pot with a capacity of approximately 5 l. Add the onion and cook over medium heat for 6–8 minutes, stirring, until soft and translucent. Add the chopped kale and stir for 2–3 minutes. Pour in the broth, add the sugar and pepper, stir and bring to a gentle simmer.

Cover the pot and braise over low heat for 60–75 minutes. Stir from the bottom occasionally. The leaves should slowly soften in the moist, gently simmering liquid. If the food starts sticking or noticeably drying out, add small amounts from the reserved 200 ml hot water. This is one shared reserve for all the remaining braising. If the leaves are still tough, braise them longer before adding the oat groats and sausages.

Add the oat groats to the kale and mix thoroughly. Lay the sausages in the pot, gently pressing them into the moist kale and covering them with some of the leaves. Do not pierce and do not brown the sausages. Once the food returns to a gentle simmer after they are added, cover and braise for another 30–35 minutes, until the oat groats are tender and the sausages cooked. Halfway through, gently turn the sausages with tongs and stir the kale along the bottom. If needed, add the remaining portion of the same reserve of up to 200 ml hot water.

During the final stage of braising, cut the peeled potatoes into similarly sized pieces. Put them in a separate pot with 1.5 l water, add 4 g salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook for 18–25 minutes, until tender. Drain, discarding the water, and keep the potatoes covered until serving.

Briefly transfer the sausages to a platter and cover so they do not cool. Stir the mustard into the kale. If there is a lot of free liquid, uncover the pot and simmer for another 5–10 minutes, stirring gently, until thick and juicy. Taste and add some of the 4 g salt reserved for seasoning only if needed, as the sausage has already salted the dish. Cut each Pinkel diagonally in half on the platter. Stir all the platter juices into the kale. Divide all the kale with its remaining sauce and all the potatoes among 4 plates. Add one halved sausage in its edible casing to each serving. Serve hot immediately.