I really like the taste of Italian sausage and peppers. Just sautéed together in a skillet they are great. But, I wanted to go one step further and make a heart soup with these great flavors. This recipe is really easy. In fact, the most challenging thing you’ll have to do is peel the tomatoes and squeeze the sausage out of the casing (if you didn’t buy your sausage in bulk). The rest is just chopping and adding to the pot.
Peeling tomatoes is an easy process. If you cut a little “X” on the bottom of a tomato and drop it in boiling water for about 30 seconds, the skin just curls up and can be easily removed.
Once you peeled the tomatoes, simple trim off the stem end and roughly chop the 1 1/2 pounds needed for this recipe.
Squeezing sausage meat from the casing is pretty easy too. I usually twist the sausage in the middle and then squeeze and pull in both directions. It’s a tad messy. But, t’s a simple process.
Then, it’s chop, chop, chop. I have a sweet onion, jalapeño, green pepper and two cloves of garlic. The green pepper gets a small chop. The red, yellow and orange peppers will be cut into larger bite sized pieces.
The next steps are just a layering process…one ingredient after another in my stock pot with a little stirring in between.
The last key elements are four cups of chicken stock and, after the soup has been brought to a boil and then simmered for about 20 minutes, a chiffonade of basil and some fresh flat leaf parsley. Check out my YouTube video and the full recipe below.
Sausage And Pepper Soup
makes about 12 cups
Ingredients
1 1/2 lb Fresh Plum Tomatoes
1 tbl Olive Oil
1 1/2 lb Mild Italian Sausage
1 med Onion, diced
1 Green Pepper, seeded and diced
2 cloves Garlic, peeled, smashed and diced
1 sm Jalapeño, seeded and diced
1 1/2 tbl Fresh Oregano, leaves pulled from the stems and roughly chopped
2 tsp Fresh Thyme, leaves pulled from the stems and chopped
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1/3 cu Tomato Paste
1 each, Red, Yellow, Orange Pepper, seeded and sliced into 1”-2” bite sized pieces
4 cu Chicken Broth
5-6 basil leaves, rolled up and thinly sliced (chiffonade)
1/3 cu Flat Leaf Parsley, roughly chopped
Extra Parsly Sprigs, for garnish
Method
The first step is to peel your tomatoes. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Using a sharp knife score an “X” on the bottom end of each tomato, each cut about 1” long and just barely cutting through the skin. Drop each tomato into the boiling water for about 30 seconds and then remove to a works surface. Carefully peel away and discard the skin. Cut off the stem end of the tomato and then roughly chop the rest and set aside.
If your sausage is in links, you want to remove and discard the casings. Twist each sausage in the center and then squeeze the meat out of each end of the casing.
Pour olive oil into a large stockpot over medium high heat. Add the sausage and break it up with a spoon as it cooks. When meat has just begun to browned evenly, add the onions and stir. Sauté for about 3 minutes and then add the garlic, jalapeño and green pepper. Stir ingredients for another 3 minutes and then add the tomatoes. Mix well and then add the oregano, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir again and add the tomato paste and peppers. Sauté everything for an additional 2 minutes and then add the chicken broth. Bring this mixture to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer. Cover the pot with the top slightly ajar and simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, add the basil and parsley. Stir well and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
Ladle soup into individual bowls and garnish with additional parsley.