Add the beans to a large container and cover them completely in water by about 6" inches. Let them sit overnight and then drain. Set them aside.
Next, add the sausage to a large pot over medium-high heat and cook until browned and cooked through, which takes about 5 to 7 minutes. Set aside.
Add the onions, celery, carrots, and garlic to the pot and sweat the vegetables for 6 to 8 minutes over medium-low heat.
Stir in the flour until combined to make a roux, and then add back in the sausage, the beans, chicken stock, and cheese rinds, and cook over low heat until the beans are tender, which takes about 45 minutes.
Next, add in the potatoes and cook for 10-12 minutes or until tender.
Finish by adding in the bacon, kale, heavy cream, salt, and pepper and then serve.
Notes
Make-Ahead: If you keep the kale separate until it is ready to be served, you can make this soup for up to two days before for freshness.How to Store: This soup recipe will hold well in the refrigerator, covered up for up to 5 days. It will also freeze well covered for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator for one day before reheating.How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of soup to a medium-sized sauce pot and heat over low heat until hot.A quicker way to soften dried beans would be to bring water to a boil, pour it over them, and let them sit for 1 hour.Substitutethe dried beans with four cans of drained beans.When thickening the soup, you’re not looking for something resembling alfredo sauce, but you want somebody to this Zuppa Toscana soup recipe.Some other recipes call to render the bacon fat first, and you can do that, but if you did that and then cooked the sausage, you would have a pot of grease.You can also serve the kale into the individual bowls as you serve them one by one so that it does not wilt.