4.04.2013

Italian Sausage Soup

Soup is one of Katie and my favorite meals!  It’s a great for chilly winter nights, but can easily be expanded into fall and spring based on the recipe.   Here is one of my favorite soups to make – and the best part is that it comes together very quickly.  Perfect for a weeknight dinner, or it’s good enough that you could serve it to company to impress them with the delicious Italian flavors.

Servings:  4
Size:  1 1/3 cups of soup,  1 ½ tsp cheese
Points Plus: 5pp
Level of Difficulty:  1
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Rating: 5 starts - Excellent!
Ingredient List:
8 ounces of hot or sweet Italian turkey sausage
2 c. fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano
½ c. uncooked small shell pasta
2 c. bagged baby spinach leaves
2 tsp. grated fresh parmesan or Romano cheese
2 tsp. chopped fresh basil


Directions:
Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.  Remove casings from sausage.  Add sausage to pan, cook about 5 minutes or until browned.  Drain if needed; return to pan.  Add broth, tomatoes and pasta to a large stock pot.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Once the mixture comes to a boil add the sausage.  Cover the pot and reduce the heat; simmer for 10 minutes or until the pasta is al dente.  Remove from heat; stir in spinach until wilted.  Sprinkle each serving with cheese and basil.
Note: This recipe makes quite a bit – a serving is 1 1/3 cups, but I typically only have 1 c. servings which leaves you with more leftovers.  If you won’t be eating all of the soup at one time I would recommend putting the spinach leaves in each serving bowl and pouring the soup serving over the top to wilt the spinach.  The wilted spinach in leftover soup lessens the time your leftovers will be good for!
Tip:
Experiment with different pasta shapes for this recipe!  Although it calls for shell shaped pasta, I have enjoyed this soup with orchecchiette (ear shaped),  gemelli (twists or spirals) or one of my personal favorites farfalle (bow-ties).
XOXO - Megan

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