I have slacked on sharing soup recipes this winter. We eat a lot of soup when its cold. For some reason though, Brian has been on a White Chicken Chili kick ALL winter. Its about the only one he ever wants! So I haven't branched out and made as many or tried as many new ones this year. This Italian Sausage Soup though--I love it because its CRAZY easy to throw together, it tastes great and is really filling, and the ingredients are more or less all from the market across the street! I hope you'll enjoy it, too!
Italian Sausage Soup
1 lb (~500g) bulk Italian sausage (I make my own with this recipe)
1 - 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 1/2 cups sliced carrots
1 stalk of celery with leaves, chopped
1 Tbs minced garlic
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp dried sage
2-4 small/med size tomatoes (or 1 can diced tomatoes)
5 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups cooked and drained beans (1 can), white beans or kidney beans work nicely
1 cup uncooked pasta (shells, macaroni, penne...something bite size)
Salt and pepper, to taste
In a stock pot over medium heat, cook the sausage until browned. Drain excess grease. Stir in the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and spices. Continue cooking for 5-10 minutes until onions are translucent. Mix in tomatoes, chicken broth and beans. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in pasta and cook 6-10 minutes more.* This depends on pasta type--follow package directions for al dente. Add salt and pepper to taste, if needed. Serve as is, or garnish with a little cheese if you'd like! Goes great with some French bread!
Notes: Nothing drives me more crazy than soggy pasta. And soggy pasta is almost inevitable in a soup because you don't have a way to stop it from cooking. The last time I made this I boiled my pasta separately in salted water--right when it got to the minimum cooking time recommended on the package, I drained it and ran cold water over it to stop the cooking. I then added it to the soup pot right before we went to the table. That worked great for it not being over cooked when I served it but it was soggy in the leftovers. The only way I can think to solve this problem would be to just put a little bit of cooked pasta in each bowl and then pour the soup over it and never put the pasta IN the hot pot of soup. I might try this next time! I use a local Chinese celery that is thin--it works fine. I'm not a celery fan (texture thing), but I chop it supper little and don't notice it. And I do the whole stalk, leaves and all. You can use stewed tomatoes for this recipe or just throw in some fresh diced tomatoes--they cook down great. Feel free to change up what veggies you add. Should be good with all kinds of things!
Italian Sausage Soup
1 lb (~500g) bulk Italian sausage (I make my own with this recipe)
1 - 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 1/2 cups sliced carrots
1 stalk of celery with leaves, chopped
1 Tbs minced garlic
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp dried sage
2-4 small/med size tomatoes (or 1 can diced tomatoes)
5 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups cooked and drained beans (1 can), white beans or kidney beans work nicely
1 cup uncooked pasta (shells, macaroni, penne...something bite size)
Salt and pepper, to taste
In a stock pot over medium heat, cook the sausage until browned. Drain excess grease. Stir in the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and spices. Continue cooking for 5-10 minutes until onions are translucent. Mix in tomatoes, chicken broth and beans. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in pasta and cook 6-10 minutes more.* This depends on pasta type--follow package directions for al dente. Add salt and pepper to taste, if needed. Serve as is, or garnish with a little cheese if you'd like! Goes great with some French bread!
Notes: Nothing drives me more crazy than soggy pasta. And soggy pasta is almost inevitable in a soup because you don't have a way to stop it from cooking. The last time I made this I boiled my pasta separately in salted water--right when it got to the minimum cooking time recommended on the package, I drained it and ran cold water over it to stop the cooking. I then added it to the soup pot right before we went to the table. That worked great for it not being over cooked when I served it but it was soggy in the leftovers. The only way I can think to solve this problem would be to just put a little bit of cooked pasta in each bowl and then pour the soup over it and never put the pasta IN the hot pot of soup. I might try this next time! I use a local Chinese celery that is thin--it works fine. I'm not a celery fan (texture thing), but I chop it supper little and don't notice it. And I do the whole stalk, leaves and all. You can use stewed tomatoes for this recipe or just throw in some fresh diced tomatoes--they cook down great. Feel free to change up what veggies you add. Should be good with all kinds of things!
No comments:
Post a Comment