Today I am so excited to participate for the first time in a blog hop!  Leslie from Once upon a time & happily ever after is hosting this link-up, and she invited me to join.  Thanks, Leslie!  And let me tell you…she couldn’t have chosen a better date for a soup-chili-stew recipe swap because here in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, as in most of the country, we just experienced an arctic blast.  Here it took us from 63 degrees at the start of the day to 32 degrees by the end of the day!

When the temps dip THAT low, one of my favorite meals is a piping hot bowl of homemade soup.  One of the favorite soups in my repertoire is this Sausage Minestrone Soup.  I make it several times throughout the winter.  I just love the flavors in it, and happily, Big Eagle does, too!

If you happen to be visiting my blog from Kellyann’s post at This Blonde’s Shopping Bag, WELCOME!  And you won’t be sorry, because I’m about to share the how-to for making this delicious soup that will warm your innards.  It’s a very forgiving recipe, so you can feel free to adjust it to suit your personal preferences.  Another bonus is that it freezes well.  So even though most of the time around here it’s just Big Eagle and me, none of it goes to waste.

 

Ingredients

 

These are all the items you will need to make this minestrone:

1/2 pound Italian sausage

1 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

8 cups water

1 quart of tomatoes  (or a 28-oz can if using store-bought)

5 beef bouillon cubes

4 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 large carrots, peeled and sliced

1 15.5-oz can garbanzo beans, drained

1 9-oz package of frozen cut green beans

4 ounces of spaghetti, broken

grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

 

Step 1

In a large soup pot, brown the sausage, onion, and garlic.

 

There’s something comforting about chopping vegetables.  This may be a little more than a cup of chopped onion.  I just use half of a large onion.  You can hardly find small onions any more…at least where I shop.

 

The Johnsonville sausage I buy comes in a 19-oz. package, so I just use half of it.  The other half I put in a quart-sized freezer bag and toss it in the freezer until it’s time to make another batch of soup.

Here’s the sausage after I’ve squeezed it out of its casing.  You could also just buy bulk sausage to begin with.

Then into the pot go the onion, garlic, and sausage to brown up.

 

Step 2

While the sausage, onion, and garlic are browning, I peel and slice the carrots.

 

 

Once the sausage is browned, you may need to pour off the fat.  Though I find with this particular sausage, there’s very little fat, so if you use the same thing, there’s no need to drain it.

Now add the next 6 ingredients listed after the garlic.

 

 

As I said at the beginning, this is a very forgiving recipe.  Normally I would use a quart jar of the tomatoes I canned back in the summer, as I have pictured with all of the other ingredients.  But I still had these two gallon bags of garden tomatoes in the freezer that really needed to be used up.  So even though I figured it may make the end product a little tomato heavy, I put in both of these bags of tomatoes!

 

If you have little ones helping you, I could see where they would enjoy unwrapping these tiny “presents”.  😁

 

 

I just eyeball the amount of pepper.

 

For some reason I didn’t get a picture of the carrots being added, but yes … add the carrots now, too!

 

Step 3

 

Now bring all that to a boil.

 

While it’s coming up to a boil, I break up my spaghetti.  I shoot for pieces that are about an inch long.

Once the pot starts to boil, reduce it to a simmer, and let it simmer uncovered for one hour.  The fragrance that permeates your house by the end of that hour will make your mouth water!

 

Step 4

After the hour is up, it’s time to add the remaining ingredients, except for the Parmesan.

 

 

My green beans are frozen from my garden.  Store-bought are fine.

 

Bring it all to a boil again, then simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.  DONE!

 

As I said, this soup freezes very well.  Three of these containers will go in the freezer.  The fourth will reside in the fridge to be consumed within the next few days.

 

Sprinkle some grated Parmesan onto the hot soup in the bowl if desired and … VOILA!  Bon appetit!

I hope you’ll let me know how it goes if you decide to give this soup a try sometime this season.  Until you’re ready to do that, though, why don’t you hop on over to Penny’s blog by clicking here, and see what she’s got cooking?  I wonder if she’s making a soup, a stew, or chili.  Can’t wait to find out!

 

But first I think I’ll partake of this bowlful of goodness.  YUM! 😋 The addition of the extra tomatoes didn’t hurt a thing.