Hearty Meat and Poultry Soup Recipe from GourmetFoodPlaza.com

Gourmet Food Plaza

Hearty Meat and Poultry Soup Recipe.....you'll find more recipes like this in our Recipe pages

Hearty Meat and Poultry Soups

A bowl of thick, steaming soup can be a wonderfully welcome meal in itself, or a cupful can team up with a sandwich or salad. Sweet sausage, smoked ham, and savory meatballs are so flavorful that a little goes a long way in these chunky soups. Each of these tasty specialties takes very little effort to prepare, just remember to allow plenty of simmering time so the flavors can mingle. If preparing in advance, add any leafy vegetables, such as spinach, just before serving.

Italian Sausage and Bean Soup
Makes 8 main-dish servings
1 lb	sweet Italian-sausage links, casings removed
1 tbsp	olive oil
2	medium onions, chopped
2	garlic cloves, minced
28 oz	plum tomatoes, canned
28 oz	reduced-sodium chicken broth, 2 cans
1 1/2 cups	dry Great northern beans, soaked and cooked
6 oz	ditalini or tubetti pasta (1 rounded cup)
10 oz	bag spinach, tough stems removed and leaves cut into 1 inch wide strips
-	crusty bread and Parmesan cheese shavings

-	Heat 5 quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat
-	Add sausage and cook, stirring frequently and breaking up with spoon, until browned
-	With slotted spoon, transfer sausage to bowl

-	Reduce heat to medium
-	Add oil to drippings in Dutch oven
-	Add onions and cook until golden
-	Add garlic, cook 1 minute
-	Stir in tomatoes with their juice, breaking up tomatoes with back of spoon

-	Add broth, beans, and 2 cups of water
-	Heat to boiling over high heat
-	Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 30 minutes
-	Add cooked sausage

-	Meanwhile, in 3 quart saucepan, prepare ditalini or tubetti as label directs but do not add salt to water
-	Drain Pasta

-	Add spinach and cooked pasta to soup
-	Stir well to mix, heat through
-	Serve hot with crusty bread and Parmesan cheese shavings

_________________________________________________________________________