Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Serving Up {Soup}: Italian Pasta Soup with Sausage

As much as I love soup, and I could eat it all winter long, I do get resistance from most of my kids most of the time when I announce "soup" as what's for dinner.  Why is that?  At least my younger ones will try it, and generally love it, yet they have amnesia set in over night and the next time I serve soup they have another soup-induced meltdown.  My older ones are the ones I don't get...if they like every individual ingredient in the soup, how is it that you combine them in a bowl and it all becomes inedible?  That doesn't seem to happen when we go to the self-serve yogurt shop - they combine all kinds of atrocities in a bowl there and declare it a masterpiece!

I was having this discussion with my SIL and asking her whether her kids were any different.  From what she said, they aren't.  She did tell me that she tries to limit the "brothiness" of soups when she can and keep the ingredients identifiable.  I went home that very night and came up with this child friendly recipe - a tweaking combination of multiple recipes.  The result, if I do say so myself, was delicious!  To heck with the kids.  This is one recipe that I hope they don't eat - all the more for me!

ITALIAN PASTA SOUP WITH SAUSAGE     Pin It
printable version

1 pkg. Jimmy Dean Sage sausage
1/2 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
48 ounces chicken stock (I use Better Than Boullion Chicken Base from Costco - love it!)
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried thyme
3 cups uncooked flat pasta (I used orecchiette but bow-tie would be similar)

In a large pot, brown the sausage over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Remove the sausage from the pot and drain the oil, leaving 2 Tbs. of the drippings in the pan. To the drippings add the onion and garlic and cook until tender.
Add the chicken broth, tomatoes, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, basil, thyme and sausage. Bring to a boil. Add the uncooked pasta; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 18-20 minutes or until the pasta is tender.

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