Thursday, January 17, 2008

Thursday

Italian sausage soup (recipe in comments)
Spinach salad with grape tomatoes and onion

Hot cocoa
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This is one of those impossible recipes. It's so easy that it cannot be as good as it is. The flavors here rely on canned Italian style tomatoes. It always makes me feel like I'm cheating when I make it, but I have ignored those feelings and even served this to company! There are few recipes this easy and I am always impressed with the outcome. The only key is to crumble the raw sausage after you remove the casings, but before you cook. Yes, this is messy, but it will save you from having to constantly crumble as the meat cooks, which is difficult anyway. I don't have T's reaction to this one because I didn't get it together to make this before he went to bed tonight. He'll have it for dinner tomorrow and I'll let you know.

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Super easy
Chopping: Crumble sausage, basil
Time: 20 minutes
Make ahead: Yes.

Reaction
J: "Even though I fessed up to this above, I still feel like I'm cheating! Can this be cooking???"

1 comment:

J said...

Italian Sausage Soup - Cooking Light and M & J
Serves 2 with leftovers for 1 lunch

2 links spicy Italian sausage, casings removed (we use chicken or turkey)
2 cups chicken broth
1 can diced Italian style tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup small pasta (shells or elbows work well)
2 cups baby spinach (if leaves are large, chop a bit)
2 T fresh basil, chopped
Parmesan

Crumble raw sausage so it will brown evenly. Heat a large, dry saucepan (3 quarts works well) over medium heat for 1 minute. Add sausage and cook until browned. If using pork sausage remove from pan, drain, and return sausage to pan.

Add broth, tomatoes with juice, and pasta. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat, cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes, or until pasta is done. Remove from heat and add spinach in batches, stirring until wilted. Add basil and stir to combine. Serve with Parmesan for sprinkling.