Italian Sausage & Vegetable Soup

When I bought the ingredients for this soup today it was intended to be “Italian Tortellini Soup”, a recipe I got from a woman who came to a Bible study group I am involved with.  It became this Italian sausage & vegetable soup when I realized that I did not use a large enough pot and had to leave out half the mushrooms and the entire package of tortellini.  Thankfully the soup came out OK and we’ll be enjoying it for the next few days!  It might be a blessing in disguise that my pot was too small.  This way we won’t be eating the same thing all week long.

Soup is quite forgiving.  The world does not come crashing down when you realize you’ve left something out, don’t have quite enough of an ingredient, added your ingredients in the wrong order, or added more of something than directed.  Thank goodness, since almost all of those things happened to me!

Ben was not happy when I told him the tortellini soup had no tortellini.  Ben likes tortellini.  But he ate it anyway and I think he thought it was pretty good.  He had a bowl and a half, so it couldn’t have been that bad.  I really liked how chock full of veggies this soup was.  The amount of sausage made it just meaty enough and provided a nice flavor.  I added a huge handful of torn basil leaves right before serving and that was lovely.  I really enjoy fresh basil and am sad I will have to wait until next summer to grow some of my own.  I have attempted this before…and failed.  But every summer I try again.  Maybe this next time I’ll get it right and it won’t wither and die on me.

Here is the recipe, which was adapted more than just a little bit since I was not quite on top of things when I went grocery shopping.  I will try out the original recipe sometime and post that as well.  Enjoy!

Italian Sausage & Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

  • 3/4 pound ground Italian sausage (sweet, mild or hot)
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 zucchini, cut into half moons
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 7 ounce can tomato sauce
  • 5-6 cups broth (chicken or beef)
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 cup torn basil leaves
  • Parmesan cheese, grated, for garnish

Directions

  1. Heat about 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat.  Brown sausage in a large pot or dutch oven, then drain meat on paper towels and set aside.
  2. Add another teaspoon of oil to the pot and cook onions and garlic until softened, scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pan.
  3. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, oregano, sausage, and salt & pepper to taste.  Simmer for 20-30 minutes.
  4. Add mushrooms, zucchini and more liquid if desired for a thinner soup.  Simmer for an additional 20-30 minutes.
  5. Stir in basil and season again just before serving.  Serve with grated Parmesan.