Recipe: Sausage Minestrone Soup

As you all know, I'm really, extra, super busy.

That is totally not a complaint.  I love being busy.

I also dislike eating out for health reasons and to save money.

In order to make this possible with my ridiculous work schedule, I cook in advance.

On a Sunday, you will find me in the kitchen cooking massive amounts of something.

This Sunday I happened to make my husband's favorite dish, homemade Minestrone Soup.

I used to make this vegan style, but that did not fill up my big, strong man.

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Easy Minestrone Soup With Sausage

Tip:  Since this makes for a very large pot of soup.  I freeze the leftover soup for later.  Do NOT freeze with the pasta otherwise the pasta will absorb all of the broth.  You've been warned!

Ingredients

Note:  Some ingredients are a link to the products I use for reference.

2lbs Cheese and Parsley Sausage Ring

(1) lb Ditalini Pasta

1/2 Cup EXTRA VIRGIN Olive Oil

(1) 16oz Can Diced Tomatoes

(2) 8oz Cans Kidney Beans

(1) 8oz Can Cannellini Beans

(1/2) Cup Pecorino Romano GratedCheese

2.5lbs Potatoes

1 Bag Baby Carrots

2 LARGE boxes of Chicken Broth

2-3 Cups Water

1.5 Tsp Dried Oregano

2 Heavy Shakes of Red Pepper Flakes

1Tbsp Dried Parsley

1 Tbsp Dried Basil

Salt

Pepper

Cut the casing off of all the sausage.  Brown the sausage and separate it until it crumbles.  Drain and put in a large pot.  Peel and dice your potatoes and put in the pot.  Cut your carrots and place in pot along with all the other listed ingredients.  Make sure that all the ingredients are covered with chicken broth, if not, add 2-3 cups of water.  Stir and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and cook for 2 hours.

I then boil a half pound of ditalini pasta and serve it with the soup.  Do not add the pasta to the large pot of soup because you will need to freeze the leftovers less the pasta.

This should make for 2-3 full meals depending on how many people you are filling up.

Feel free to add a dollop of ricotta.  Ohh how I love ricotta on everything.

Related:  Check out this post to learn how to make a healthy vegetable side dish, sauteed Japanese eggplant.

What is your favorite soup?