Italian Soup

This is a great dinner to make on a weeknight.  It was pretty quick and warms up great for lunch the next day.  Aaaaand dare I say it is rather healthy in comparison to my regular recipe posts?

Here is what you need:

1 lb hot Italian sausage
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion minced
2 garlic cloves
48 oz container chicken broth - low sodium
2 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans - drain
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
1 tsp Italian seasoning
5 oz fresh spinach
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Parmesan cheese to taste

Here is what you do:

Pour a tablespoon or so of olive oil and cook your sausage in a heavy dutch oven over medium heat.  Brown on both sides for about 7 or 8 minutes each.  Remove the sausage and leave the drippings.  Saute your onion in the drippings until they are soft and translucent then add your garlic and saute for about a minute to release the flavor.  You don't want to burn your garlic so keep the heat under control.  Cut up your sausage into 1/4 inch or bite size pieces and add it back to the oven.

Add your chicken broth, beans, tomatoes and Italian seasoning to the sausage mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 25 minutes.

Stir in your spinach, parsley and basil and simmer for another 10 minutes or until you are ready to serve.  You probably do not need salt but I added some fresh ground pepper to taste.

Serve with fresh Parmesan or you can use the grated stuff (that is all I had on hand).  Cornbread is perfect with this too.

Perfect for these cold days and a nice alternative to the chili my husband is insisting on making once a week with our freezer full of deer meat.  Hello pork for a change!!

Here is a snazzy iphone pic for you.... you're welcome.