Italian Sausage Soup

Original Image from Disney Family

Want to pin it?  Click here!

Want the original link?  Click here!

Ah soup.  One of those lovely things about cold weather.  There's nothing better than simmering a delicious soup all day long and enjoying the steamy loveliness that evening.  I try to make soup once a week in the cold months (this is replaced by a salad entree in warm months) and I'm always looking for new soup recipes to try, so you may see many of them on my Pinterest and reviewed here in this blog.

I have to admit, with how prominently spinach is featured in this recipe, I was a little worried that my husband would reject it.  He usually only likes spinach in eggs Florentine, though I've been known to slip it past him in spaghetti sauce and lasagna before.  Still, he heartily approved of this addition to our weekly menu, so on I went with the preparation.

Pretty Browned Meatballs!

 I did change this recipe up a bit to suit our lives a little better.  I use only whole grain pasta, so that was a big difference, especially since locally I can't find whole grain shells.  I substituted bow ties, one of our favourite pasta choices for soups.  Because whole grain pasta tends to absorb more liquid than white pasta, I upped the broth a tiny bit. Additionally, I used frozen spinach, since I was planning to make this later in the week (we only grocery shop once a week) and spinach tends to wilt pretty fast on us.  Lastly, I just couldn't imagine that the meatballs would taste right to me without being browned.  I get that the meat would cook in the broth and all, but I couldn't wrap my mind around it.  So, all the meatballs were browned on the stove top before heading into the soup.  At the last minute, I ended up doubling the tomato paste too.  I love tomato flavour, and with the extra broth being added, I worried that it might wind up too thin.  It turned out just right.

Mmmm Steamy Goodness

The recipe itself was super easy to put together, and took almost no time at all, even with the added step of browning the meatballs before heading them in.  And let me tell you, this recipe makes a lot of meatballs.  When I saw the giant pile that was being created I knew this would be a husband-pleaser for sure!  And aren't they just prettier browned?  I think so.

We both agreed that this tasted like the kind of soup you'd get at a great Italian restaurant.  It did have a very strong Italian/Mediterranean vibe to it, from either the sausage meatballs or the herb combination or both.  It was fragrant, the broth was rich and flavourful, and the meatballs were tender and had absorbed much of the flavour from the soup.

This is an all-day soup that you make in the crock pot, and the beautiful melding of flavours shows off the wonders that slow cooking can do.  What a yummy thumbs up!

Irresistable!  And Husband Approved!