Hearty Sausage Minestrone Soup
Mr. L loves soup no matter what time of year. However, I mentally equate soup with chilly, fall evenings. Thus, 65 degrees in February in Florida hasn’t put me much into the soup mood.
That being said, this sausage, minestrone soup is so economical and easy.
I usually make various soups in the crock-pot, but this soup is so easy it doesn’t even require one! It is Mr. L’s new fave and I love how quickly it comes together! Seriously, it only takes about twenty minutes!
I kind of forgot that I had a blog. ( A-D-D much!?) So, I failed to take the obligatory ‘cast and crew’ photo and jumped right in.
First, you are going to want to brown up about 1/2 pound of pork sausage in a large, 6 quart dutch oven or Covered Stockpot.
This whole meal is made in one pot, which gives it major, extra brownie points in my book!
This whole meal is made in one pot, which gives it major, extra brownie points in my book!Feel free to use any type of bulk sausage that flips your fancy.
Brown the sausage right in with a shallot ( or an onion. I had a shallot and it makes me feel fancier).
Then, dice up some carrots ( I use baby carrots…I hate peeling), and about 2 stalks of chopped celery and throw it all in the pot. Yep… THROW! All together. EASY!
It’s a little late, but here is a semi ingredient photo for the next and super duper important steps.
Dump all three cans of diced tomatoes into the pot. DUMP! I love easy, action-packed verbs! I have been really lucky because Aldi’s has their canned diced tomatoes with the Italian seasonings already in the can. If you can’t find these, just add your own Italian seasonings, pepper, etc. to taste. I apologize for my un-exactness (Like my grammatically incorrect, made-up word?). Cooking is an art…not a science. Go with it.
Rinse and drain your kidney beans and put them in with a carton of stock. Chicken or vegetable stock is ideal.
Bring the pot to a boil. Throw in a few handfuls of small pasta ( pick a shape…all are fun!) and cook for about seven minutes until pasta is tender.
If you need to add some more liquid, just throw in 1 cup of water with 1 chicken bouillon cube until dissolved and you will be good to go! Pair with a nice piece of bread and, VOILA! Dinner is served and you didn’t slave all night! My kind of meal!
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound bulk ground sausage
- 1 medium onion or shallot, chopped
- 2 celery ribs, chopped
- 2 medium carrots or several baby carrots, chopped
- 3 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes with basil, oregano and garlic, undrained
- 1 can (15 oz.) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 28 oz. container chicken or vegetable broth
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup ditalini or other small pasta
Instructions
- In a large, dutch oven, cook sausage, onion, celery and carrots over medium heat 8-10 minutes or until sausage is no longer pink and onion is tender, breaking up sausage into crumbles; drain.
- Stir in tomatoes, beans, broth, garlic powder and pepper; bring to a boil.
- Add pasta; cook, covered, 6-8 minutes or until pasta is tender.
1 Comment
We’re having a (final?) cold snap here in Dallas and this sounds like a perfect way to warm up. Need to get soups out of my system before it’s 90 degrees!