Italian sausage and kale gratin - PUBLISHED

A very good first attempt. Very rich, cold-weather kind of dish, with flavours strong enough to balance the coarseness of the kale. Hot or mild Italian sausage works.
2 - Still delicious. I wonder if a bit of salt would help bring out more flavour? It's already so flavourful, unctuous and sweet that you barely notice there's anything so healthy as kale in it!
3 - I don't think salt adds anything to the dish. I've rewritten parts of the recipe to make it clearer to me. Moving it to the 3rd testing stage because it was that good!

4 - Very good. Only a few specifications in terms of instructions - I made my own Italian sausage mix, and added too much lard, so I should have removed some of the fat in the pan before moving to the next step. The finished dish oozed fat! I also used 6oz of feta cheese instead since it was on hand, and it was very good.

Some olive oil
1 pound fresh mild or hot Italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled
1/3 cup dry white wine
2 bunches (about 1 pound) kale, stemmed and torn into large pieces
1/2 cup + 3 Tbsps butter, melted
1/3 cup flour
2 cups milk
8 oz fresh goat cheese or feta
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 tablespoon minced fresh herbs (such as a combination of parsley, oregano and basil)

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large stainless steel sauté pan, heat the oil and cook the sausage, breaking it up. Cook until browned (usually when the moisture has evaporated). Remove any excess fat.
3. Add the wine scraping up the fond. Continue to cook until the wine reduces and is mostly evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. 
4. Decrease the heat and stir in the kale, one handful at a time. Mix in the kale and cook until it begins to wilt and turn a bright green. Don't worry about overcooking the kale; it is impossible, unless you burn it! Remove from heat and set the pan aside.
5. Meanwhile, dump the bread crumbs in a medium sized bowl.
6. Melt all the butter in a saucepan. When melted, put 3 Tbsps of it into the breadcrumb bowl.
7. Into the remaining butter, whisk in the flour; continue wisking until starting to brown. Add the milk, whisking constantly, until it thickens into a sauce.
8. Add the crumbled goat cheese to the roux and continue to whisk until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth.
9. Pour the sauce into the sausage and kale and let sit 5 minutes to allow any more fond to lift. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon to scrape up the fond and mix the sauce evenly in the sausage and kale.
10. Spoon the mixture into a shallow, 2-quart gratin dish.
11. To the breadcrumb and butter, add parmesan and minced fresh herbs. Mix thoroughly, then evenly distribute over the kale and sausage to form the topping.
12. Bake the gratin until the topping is golden-brown and the filling is bubbly, about 30 minutes (briefly broil at this point if not browned enough).

• Cool slightly before serving with crusty bread if eating as a main dish.