If It’s Fall, It Must Be Soup
Fall is totally soup weather in my mind. I love it. Hubby, however, is less of a fan. Unless, of course, it’s something like this – Lasagna Soup, originally shared by Cristi, and a permanent part of our rotation since.
First, brown 1 pound of Italian sausage. I used hot sausage tonight, but if you are less of a fan of spicy, you could mix sweet and hot, or just go with all sweet. Remove it from the casings, and just break it up with a wooden spoon as it browns.
Once it is browned, add in 2 cups of diced onions,
And one cup of diced carrots.
And then five cloves of garlic, minced. Or be like me and use a garlic press instead of mincing it by hand (Teh Lazy, I has it.)
Once the onions and carrots have softened a bit, add in 1/4t crushed red pepper flakes, 1/2t dried oregano, and 1/2t dried basil.
Pour in 4 cups of chicken broth (conveniently, that’s exactly one box),
one large can of crushed tomatoes, and one regular (14 oz.) can of tomato sauce. (Organic not required. I just happen to like Giant’s organic store brand stuff)
Once that comes to a boil, add in 1 cup (or more like 2 in my case) of dried pasta. The original recipe called for campanelle, but I can never find it, so I use gemelli.
Simmer 10-12 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked. Then add in 2 cups fresh spinach. Or be like me and throw in the whole bag. What? I like spinach.
Stir in the spinach and let it simmer for one or two minutes until the spinach is wilted. Nom.
Remove from the heat. To serve, put a little bit of the liquid in the bottom of a bowl. (This keeps the cheese from melting solidly onto the bowl)
Top with a small handful of shredded provolone-mozzarella mix.
Ladle on the soup, and top with shredded parmesan and fresh basil.
It will be ripping hot, so I recommend giving it a minute or two to cool. Of, you know, write a blog post about it. 
September 15th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Nom, indeed. And pretty healthy too! Nice pictures. I will definitely make this sometime this fall.
September 15th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Great minds! I’m about to get my crock pot Italians Would Never Eat This Wedding Soup ready for tomorrow. Which oddly enough if you remove the tomato sauce and cheese from yours–is the same thing!
September 15th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
I totally need to make a giant batch of this. It’s been a while.
September 15th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Yum! I need to make this!! Thanks! Do you think hamburg will work? I just can’t eat sausage.
September 16th, 2009 at 12:46 am
That looks delicious!! Must make soon (my dad will love this!!)!
September 16th, 2009 at 4:45 am
Why are you making me hungry for soup at 6 in the morning? Will definitely have to try this – I like the fact there is spinach in it.
September 16th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
what a fantastic post! love the step by step.
September 17th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
This almost looks good enough to make me eat meat!
September 19th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Hmmm … will have to ponder this one. Not sure Hubster will eat it with the spinach in there, but I’ll bet it will be good even without the spinach. I’m trying to cook more and be less lazy with the food stuff. Thanks for sharing!
September 24th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
MMM that looks good. I would’ve left out all that spinach (i do love spinach but not in a soup like that). I would’ve served it with much much MUCH more mozzarella and then added a bit more just in case. And then a nice dollop of sour cream.
Yea, I think I’m gonna make this for dinner this weekend!