Italian Sausage and Vegetable Soup

This was a hit at my house last Sunday night, and I’ve saved the leftovers for lunch for me all week.  It hits the spot on a cold winter day!

Italian Sausage and Vegetable Soup

1 TBS olive oil

1 pound of Italian sweet sausage, removed from casings

1 cup diced celery

2 cups chopped onion

1 large chopped red bell pepper

1 TBS chopped garlic

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 pounds of diced zucchini

5 chopped plum tomatoes

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 quarts (two boxes) of chicken or vegetable broth

1 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese 

1 TBS basil seasoning (2TBS fresh if you prefer)

1. Chop onion, zucchini, garlic, celery, pepper and tomato and set aside.

2. In a large soup pot, add olive oil and sausage.  Over medium high heat cook sausage using a spoon (or see below) to crumble sausage, until sausage is browned.

3. Add onion, celery and pepper and saute 5 minutes.

4. Add garlic, pepper, salt and tomato paste, stirring together, cook for a couple minutes.

5. Add tomatoes, zucchini, chicken broth and Parmesan cheese, along with basil.  Stir well to combine.

6. I simmered on low for a few hours, and then served with more Parmesan cheese for a topping.  You could also add it to a slow cooker and keep it on low until ready to be served.

I also served this withmy garlic bread, but added some mozzarella cheese on top of the bread before cooking.

To crumble ground beef and sausage, or to smash avocados for guacamole, I use this meat chopper tool-I keep my kitchen tools at the bare minimum but LOVE this thing: