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Melt butter in the bottom of your slow cooker. Add roughly chopped onions, celery, and cabbage. You only need to cut them up enough so they fit down in your slow cooker, since you will puree them later. I've used both regular green cabbage and nappa cabbage with excellent results.
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Pour in about 1 cup of stock if the veggies start to scorch or you won't be there to watch them. Cook on high 1 to 2 hours until they start to collapse.
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Add more of remaining stock and use a stick blender to puree the veggies. Thin with more stock or water until desired thickness is reached. I like mine like a thick chowder. Season with salt, pepper, Worcestershire, and cumin to taste. Add Dijon mustard and stir well. The mustard really accents the sausage.
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Brown sausage coins in frying pan and add to soup. Allow to heat through and again adjust seasonings to taste. Serve soup with sausages.
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Notes:
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1. I play fast and loose with the seasoning and mustard amounts, tasting often. I occasionally add a Cajun Seasoning like Tony Chachere's. Tailor the flavors to meet your family's tastes.
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2. I like a German style smoked sausage for this, but chicken or turkey sausages, kielbasa, hot Italian, or Andouille style sausage are good as well. You want a strong flavor as the base soup can be a bit bland. Chorizo and taco seasoning is one I intend try at some point.
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3. I use my yard-grown homemade chicken stock, but I have also used the stock left from cooking a corned beef brisket with very good results. This could easily be made vegetarian by using vegetable stock and one of the many sausage substitutes available.
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4. Other veggies can be added too. Carrots can add quite a bit of sweetness, etc. I avoid potatoes simply so I can call this a low-carb soup. When I make this, I just tend to throw in any green veggies that I need to use up-spinach, aging salad blend, bok choi, chard, kale ... they all disappear happily into this soup! I have a very picky eater and the pureeing seems to disguise them just enough to get all the veggies past him.
