Italian Sausage Soup

I found a great Italian soup recipe to go with the Italian theme. I modified the recipe though since I did not have a lot of time that morning.

Ingredients:
1lb Mild Italian Sausage
6 cups Chicken Broth
1T Tomato Paste
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1/2c Mini Pasta Shells
10oz Baby Spinach Leaves
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt to Taste

I realized I didn't have tomato paste. So I used tomato sauce instead and just used 2T instead of 1T. I also used cavatappi pasta instead of mini shells. My mom actually said smaller noodles would have been better to spread the pasta throughout the meal more.

It would be a light meal if you used Jennie-O Turkey Sausage. Unfortunately, my store was out of it this week.


Combine broth, tomato paste, and garlic in the slow cooker.


Slice Italian sausage

Add Italian sausage to the slow cooker

Cook on Low for 5 to 6 hours.

This is what we found after it cooked all day. It didn't look too pretty, but it tastes so good.

30 minutes before serving, add pasta to the slow cooker. When pasta is tender, clean and stir in spinach leaves.

Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

This soup was sooo yummy!! It was very simple to make. It was interesting how the sausage made the broth taste so great after cooking all day.

I think it would be best served as a starter for a meal. It is not very filling to be a full meal.

The original recipe was actually for sausage meatballs. I was in a rush and didn't have time to make the meatballs and used just Italian sausage instead. It was great with just the sausage. Here is the recipe for the meatballs if you are interested in making them.

Ingredients:

1lb Mild Italian Sausage, casings removed

1/2c Dried Bread Crumbs

1/4c Grated Parmesan Cheese

1/4c Milk

1 Egg

1/2t Dried Basil

1/2t Black Pepper

1/4t Garlic Salt

Combine all of the meatball ingredients. Form into marble sized balls.

Recipe from Disney Family.com