Delicious soup recipes: Italian sausage soup with pasta

Growing up in a restaurant family, I've gotten to try and learned to love many delicious soup recipes. From the chicken and dumplings soup recipe I learned in Girl Scouts to some newer, trendier soups like chicken Parmesan soup, I don't think I've ever tasted one that I didn't like. As I've gotten older, I've tended to look for some healthy homemade soup recipes. These not only fill my tummy and give my body good nutrients, but they also have a comfort food factor that I love--especially on cold winter days.

Recently, I've learned how to make an Italian sausage soup recipe. This chicken/ sausage/ pasta combo is chock full of tasty ingredients that draw from the best of Italian cooking. While the recipe I've written down here calls for bowtie pasta, you could just as easily substitute some tortellini for a hearty, surprise-in-the-middle taste. However you try it, you're sure to want seconds of this yummy soup recipe.

Delicious Soup Recipes: Italian Sausage Soup with Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 8 -oz Italian sausage, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
• 1/2 c. chopped onion
• 1 32-oz can chicken broth
• 1 15 1/2-oz can kidney beans (rinse and drain them)
• 1 14 1/2-oz can undrained diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp. oregano leaves
• 1 tsp. finely crushed rosemary leaves
• 1 tsp. thyme leaves
• 1 6-oz pkg baby spinach leaves
• 1/2 c. bowtie pasta, uncooked

Directions:

1. Heat up the olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add in the Italian sausage, allowing it to cook for about three minutes. Stir it while it cooks.
2. Add in the onion and allow to cook for at least another three minutes or until the onions become tender and the sausage browns.
3. Add the chicken broth to the saucepan as well as the tomatoes and the red kidney beans.
4. Stir the Italian sausage soup while you add the oregano, thyme, and rosemary to the homemade soup recipe. Allow it to boil.
5. Once it boils, turn it down to a low heat, letting it simmer for 10 to 12 minutes.
6. Finally, stir in the pasta and the spinach and turn the heat back up to medium-high. Let it boil.
7. Once it boils, turn it down to low heat again, allowing the Italian sausage soup with pasta to simmer for another 10 minutes or until the pasta is tender. If you used fresh tortellini, you don't have to let the soup simmer as long.

Tips:

Serve this hearty winter soup with some garlic bread.

Garnish the soup with cheese.