Souper Sunday #6: Italian Sausage Soup

I'm still not getting tired of soup (eating or making).

What I love in particular about soup today is that I basically was able to just take everything that was already in my fridge, chop it up, and throw it into a pot.  The Italian sausage and spinach were leftovers from a delicious Italian Sausage and Tomato Risotto that I made last night for dinner.  It's one of The Hubby's favourite things to eat, and we were having his parents over for dinner and cards, so I let his dreams become a reality.  I'm a risotto dream-maker.  It's just what I do.

So when I stumbled across this Italian Sausage soup recipe while surfing the web, I gave myself a little pat on the back for how easily I was going to be able to use up the left over ingredients in my fridge.  This is something that I am normally quite awful at.  Combine that with my fear of expired foods (even those with an expiry date that matches the current date) and my hatred of leftovers in general, and we sometimes end up throwing out more food than is probably ethically forgivable.

But not today!

Italian Sausage Soup

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 pound Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 (14 ounce) cans beef broth
• 1 1(14.5 ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can white beans (such as Great Northern Beans, Cannellini Beans, Navy Beans, etc.), drained
• 2 small zucchini, cubed
• 2 cups spinach (packed), rinsed and torn
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions
In a large pot, brown sausage with garlic over medium-high heat.  Stir in broth, tomatoes, and carrots.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes.  Stir in beans and zucchini.

Cover, and simmer another 15 minutes, or until zucchini is tender.  Remove from heat, and add spinach.

Cover, allowing the heat from the soup to cook the spinach for another 5 minutes.  Enjoy!

Recipe Source: allrecipes.com