Categorized:

  • Beef and Pork
  • Main Dish
  • Soups

Tagged:

  • basil
  • bell pepper
  • carrots
  • celery
  • chicken broth
  • garlic
  • italian seasoning
  • parsley
  • sausage
  • tomato sauce
  • tomatoes
  • yellow onion
Italian Sausage Soup - 1

Italian Sausage Soup

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 lb. Italian sausage (mild or hot as preferred)
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (1 medium)
  • 1 cup diced carrots (2 medium)
  • 3/4 cup sliced celery (2 ribs)
  • 3/4 cup diced bell pepper (1 small)
  • 1 Tbsp minced garlic (3 cloves)
  • 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, then more as desired to thin
  • 1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
  • 1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 3/4 cup dry orzo pasta
  • 3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil (optional)
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  • Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Break sausage into chunks into pot.
  • Let brown on bottom about 3 minutes, then turn and break up sausage and cook until no longer pink. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate, leave rendered fat in pot over medium-high heat.
  • You should have about 1 Tbsp fat in pot, if needed add a little more olive oil or drain off some excess fat if there’s too much.
  • Add onions, carrots, celery and bell pepper and saute until starting to soften, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and saute 1 minute longer.
  • Pour in broth, tomato sauce, tomatoes, and add Italian seasoning. Return sausage to pot and season mixture with salt and pepper to taste (you shouldn’t need much salt).
  • Bring to a simmer then cover, reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer 5 - 10 minutes until veggies are almost soft.
  • Add orzo. Cover and let simmer, stirring occasionally (while scraping along bottom of pot as orzo will tend to stick). Cook until nearly al dente. About 8 minutes.
  • Remove from heat. Stir in some ice (1/2 cup or so) if you want to help stop the orzo from cooking and getting mushy. Stir in fresh parsley and basil.
  • Serve warm, topping servings with grated parmesan if desired.

Notes

  • If you need to cut some sodium in the recipe use unsalted chicken stock.
  • Makes about 10 cups.

Variatons

  • Soup could also be made with Italian turkey sausage instead of pork sausage.

  • Add other vegetables such as zucchini, kale or spinach.

  • Try it with another pasta such as ditalini, elbow, or acini de pepe.

  • Or replace pasta with cheese tortellini.

  • Substitute diced cauliflower in place of the orzo to cut some of the carbs.

  • Season with other fresh herbs in place of dried Italian seasoning. Rosemary and oregano are other great options, add to taste.

  • Make it spicy by using hot Italian sausage or adding red pepper flakes to taste.

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