I hadn’t made this recipe in a long and time and a friend of mine asked for a great wintertime hearty soup. I sent him a list of some of my favorites and he picked this one. He reported back that he liked it and that suddenly gave me a taste for it too. I made a big batch and enjoyed two helpings in front of a fire in my living room while it snowed outside. It was a perfect evening.
This recipe is very forgiving…feel free to add more of any ingredients (carrots, celery, onions, spinach, sausage or beans). It’s always fun to customize a dish to your liking. Enjoy!
Italian Sausage, White Bean & Spinach Soup
makes about 2 quarts
Ingredients
1 lb Italian Sausage, mild or hot
1 tbl Butter
1 sm Yellow Onion, diced, about a cup
1 lg Carrot, diced
1 lg Celery Stalk, chopped
3 clove Garlic, smashed and minced
6 cu Chicken Stock
2 cans Cannellini Beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Pepper
3 cu Fresh Spinach, tightly packed
1/2 cu Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated, for garnish
Method
Remove italian sausage from its casing if you’re using links. Place sausage in a large pot over medium low heat and break apart further with a wooden spoon. Brown sausage and then remove from the pot and set aside.
Melt butter in the same pot and then add onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Sauté ingredients until onions are tender and translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Return sausage to the pot and add chicken stock, beans, oregano and pepper. Bring mixture just to a boil and then immediately reduce heat to a low simmer. Simmer soup for 40 minutes. If soup is too thick, add water to thin it a bit. Just before ready to serve, stir in spinach until it has fully wilted. Ladle soup into individual bowls and top with a bit of Parmigiano-Reggiano.