Oh Mio! Hearty Italian Soup

I have been using the dutch oven I got for Christmas constantly. I love it.

Tonight's soup was: Hearty Italian Soup.
It was incredible. My husband couldn't stop talking about how much he liked it. He stopped only when he fell asleep on the couch after dinner. My kids ate it with out complaint. I was even asked to make it tomorrow.

It's worth trying. Oh mio, è delizioso!

Hearty Italian Soup

1 (16 oz) package mild Italian sausage (I used beef polska kielbasa sausage, two 13 oz packages)
2 tsp olive oil
1 large onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (48 oz) container chicken broth (I used two 32 oz cartons)
2 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes (I prefer the organic kind)
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 (5 oz) package baby spinach (I didn't find a package so I just used fresh cut-in-half spinach leaves)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsely
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
freshly shaved Parmesan cheese

1. Cook sausage in hot oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat 7 to 8 minutes on each side until browned. (Side note: I cute my sausage into 1/4 inch slices before I cooked it. This worked well for polska kielbasa sausage.) Remove sausage from Dutch oven, reserving drippings in Dutch oven. Saute' onion in hot drippings 3 minutes or until tender. Add garlic, and saute' 1 minute. Cut sausage into 1/4 inch think slices, and return to Dutch oven.
2. Stir chicken broth and next 3 ingredients into sausage mixture; bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 25 minutes.
3 Stir in spinach, basil and parsley; cook, stirring occasionally 5 to 6 minutes or until spinach is wilted. Top each serving with Parmesan cheese.
I served it with a French Loaf Bread.


This recipe is originally from Southern Living. They also have a cornbread biscotti recipe that would be nice to try with it. You can find both original recipes here: Southern Living Hearty Italian Soup with Parmesan-Pepper Cornbread Biscotti