Sausage & Spinach Soup
Serves 10
Cooking Techniques = Saute & Simmer
2 – 2 ½ pounds Italian sausage – I prefer mild or sometimes called sweet
1 large yellow onion or 2 medium onions
4 large carrots
5 cloves garlic
3 quarts of home made chicken stock or your favorite low salt commercial brand
30 oz. of fresh tomatoes, diced although I prefer to use canned tomatoes this time of year
30 oz. of cooked beans - cannellini, great northern, black, pinto or a combination. - For this recipe, I suggest using canned beans. Really shortens the prep time down.
1 large bag of washed spinach about 14 oz. – if you prefer to buy a bunch of spinach, be sure to thoroughly wash and dry it to remove any dirt or small stones. And avoid any bunches with yellowed leaves. I now like to use the triple washed spinach. Still tastes fresh and really shortens the prep time…a must when trying to get a meal out in a hurry.
3 tablespoons of fresh basil, chopped or 1 tablespoon dried
1-cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
12 oz bag of Conchiglie pasta also called shell pasta – go with the medium sized
Salt and Pepper to taste – of course
I like to have the ingredients prepped before I start. You need to remove the sausage from the sausage casings. Peel and chop the onion, carrots and garlic. This is a soup with a lot of texture so you don’t have to chop it too fine. Really depends on your own preferences.
If you are using dried beans, you won’t be making this soup until tomorrow. You really want to soak dried beans overnight and then cook them. If you are using canned beans, open them up and rinse them off in a colander.
If you are using fresh spinach, wash and dry it in a salad spinner and remove any tough stems.
Grate the cheese and chop the fresh basil and put on a pot of water to cook the pasta.
Cooking the Pasta
Cook the pasta separately and add it to the soup just before serving. There are pluses and minuses doing it this way.
The negative is the pasta doesn’t get to cook and absorb all the wonderful flavors from the rest of the ingredients. The plus is the pasta doesn’t absorb all the liquid and leave you with a pot of overcooked pasta with very little broth. This is especially important if you make extra and plan to serve it as leftovers the next day.
Start with the sausage. Heat a large soup or stockpot over medium high heat and brown the sausage until it is cooked through. Using a wooden spoon, break up any large chunks of sausage. This should take about 10 minutes.
At the same time you are cooking the sausage, start heating up the water for pasta. The trick is to have the pasta cooked and ready to go just as the soup is ready to serve. Depending on your stove and where you live the water takes 5 to 10 minutes to boil and then another 8 to 10 minutes to cook the pasta al dente.
(In Italian the phrase means "to the tooth" and is a term used to describe the correct degree of doneness when cooking pasta. The food should have a slight resistance when biting into it, but should not be soft or overdone or have a hard center.)
A lot of fat will come from the sausage so I like to pour off most of it before adding the onions, carrots and garlic. Be sure to stir this combination while it is cooking so the ingredients don’t burn and stick to the bottom of the pan. Cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for five minutes. Now add the chopped tomatoes, beans and dried basil if you are not using fresh. Otherwise, wait until the end to add the fresh basil.
Simmer the soup for another 10 minutes and then add the spinach and fresh basil. Cook for about a minute until the spinach wilts. Take a spoonful of soup and taste for seasoning. Be sure to let the soup cool in the spoon before you taste otherwise it will be too hot for your taste buds to figure out what it needs. Season with salt and pepper.
Spoon some pasta into your serving bowls, ladle in some soup and top with the grated Parmesan cheese. I like to serve some extra cheese in a separate bowl on the side for those who want more.
Serve with some French or Italian bread and you have yourself an incredible meal.
