Portuguese Winter Soup

So I saw Alton Brown make a Portuguese Kale soup over the holidays and I thought wow that looks good so I decided to try to remake it. Although I didn't have any Chorizo handy so I replaced it with Double Smoke Ukrainian Farmers Sausage and then tweaked the seasoning. And it worked, so yummy and good for you!

1lb Farmer's Sausage or Chorizo
2 medium onions
6 cloves of garlic
4 large kale leaves
1 tin chick peas
1 tin diced tomatoes
1 L chicken stock
1 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp smoked sweet Spanish paprika

Roughly chop up sausage and saute in olive oil until it begins to brown in a large soup pot, I used my Le Creuset Dutch oven. Mince onions and add to sausage and cook until softened but not brown. Add garlic and cook for a couple minutes to mellow the flavour. Add in stock and scrape the bottom of the pot to deglaze. Add in tomatoes, chick peas and seasonings and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for about 15 minutes. Stem and roughly chop the kale then add to the pot, cook for another 5 to 10 minutes to wilt the kale. Salt & Pepper to taste, I usually just add pepper since the sausage is quite salty. Serve with crusty bread.