It's a Soup Night

Try as I might, I can't seem to speed spring on it's way. Although yesterday was fairly warm, it's about 17 degrees here this morning, and tonight is definitely a soup night. We're having Italian Hot Sausage and Potato Soup.

This recipe is a sort of happy accident. I had set out to duplicate a sausage and white bean soup I bought at the supermarket one day. My husband decided that he wasn't in the mood for beans, so I substituted potatoes. Here's what resulted.

Italian Hot Sausage and Potato Soup

In your soup pot, saute chopped onions, carrots and celery in two tbsp. olive oil until soft. Meanwhile, in a frying pan, brown two Italian sausage patties, or four to six sausages removed from their casings. Break up the meat as it browns. You can use hot or sweet sausage. I used hot. Yum.

After the sausage is browned, remove it from the frying pan and add it to the vegetables. In the empty pan, brown one or two potatoes, diced. When these are browned, add them to the vegetables also.

Now everything is in your soup pot. Add two cartons of chicken broth, or eight cups water and four chicken bouillion cubes. Also add one package frozen chopped spinach. Simmer till the spinach is warmed, and everything is cooked through -- about 30 minutes. Serve with lightly toasted Italian bread, dipped in a good quality olive oil.

Mangia!