Italian Sausage Soup

Last night I was searching for a quick and easy soup recipe to make with ingredients I actually had on hand. The "pickins" were slim my friends. My meat stock pile has dwindled and it's time to stock up again! It seems as though all types of sausages have been on sale lately, so I have a lot on hand. I happened to have a roll of Jimmy Dean hot ground sausage needing to be used up. I usually only have turkey sausage, but I think I bought this in a week sale moment thinking I would make those tasty little sausage & cheese ball appetizers. Long story short, it needed to be used up. I looked through my recipe stash and found this very yummy soup! I didn't have any spinach on hand, so I made it without. I definitely will make this again and make sure I have some because it will bump up the nutrition. Anyway, this is something different than the ordinary soup recipes I see and thought I would share it with you all! Enjoy!

Italian Sausage Soup

8 ounces hot or sweet turkey Italian sausage
2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano
1/2 cup uncooked small shell pasta
2 cups bagged baby spinach leaves
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan or Romano cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil


Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage to pan, and cook about 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain; return to pan.

Add broth, tomatoes, and pasta to pan, and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until pasta is done. Remove from heat; stir in spinach until wilted. Sprinkle each serving with cheese and basil.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/3 cups soup, 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, and 1 1/2 teaspoons basil)

CALORIES 216 FAT 7.1g FIBER 1.6g

Cooking Light, JULY 2004
 
Another quick note: I doubled the recipe since I had a 16 oz. roll of sausage. It is a very forgiving recipe and easily adapted.