This week’s recipe is one of my own, a very zesty and healthy soup perfect for these cold winter days. This is a soup that, combined with a loaf of Italian bread, becomes a great meal.
Although I choose to make it with Italian sausage, you could substitute some ground beef or turkey sausage. I recently discovered parsnips and they are included in this recipe along with some other different seasonings.
Parsnips, I learned, are cousins of carrots and contain many of the same health benefits. During the holidays, I mixed them in with mashed potatoes for a healthier side dish.
You don’t have to follow this recipe exactly if there are ingredients that you don’t care for, but give it a try my way the first time you make it.
Sammy’s Italian Vegetable and Sausage Soup
Ingredients:
16 – 20 oz. Italian sausage, mild to hot, depending upon your taste, cut into bite-size chunks
Handful of fresh green beans – cut into 1” pieces
1 small Vidalia onion – diced
2 carrots – diced
1 stalk celery- diced
2 cloves garlic – minced
2 parsnips – diced
1 sandwich slice of dill pickle – diced fine
2 C chicken broth
1 C beef broth
1 14-oz can of diced
tomatoes
1 15-oz can of Great Northern beans, drained
2 Tbs. Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. dry parsley leaves
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
3 bay leaves
24 ozs of water
8 oz. Ditalini pasta
Directions: In an 8-10 qt. pan, brown sausage pieces and remove. Using the same pan, add a tablespoon or two of olive oil and heat over medium. Add in garlic and vegetables, stirring often so as not to burn. When onions are translucent, add in sausage, tomatoes, broths, water and spices. Bring to a boil, cover, simmer for 90 minutes. Add Northern beans last 15 minutes of simmer time. At that same time, in a separate pot, boil Ditalini pasta. Ladle soup into bowls with a couple spoonfuls of pasta, add parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Makes about 8 servings.
