Weeknight Soup

I’m not a soup person. I can’t eat soup and call it my “dinner”. I never order soup over salad at a restaurant. And I think I’ve actually made soup at home all of one other time (probably to the disappointment of my husband as he definitely loves soup of all kinds).

My cousin Kelly makes a delicious Italian wedding soup, I love chili (which isn’t really soup to me), and I make a really good chicken tortilla soup- but that’s the extent of my soup repertoire.

Until now.

I’ve finally found another soup recipe that I love and I’ll share it with you today. This soup is an adapted Giada recipe. It was part of a food network commercial that I saw once this weekend and made a mental note to make for dinner during the week.

I’m sure it has a real name but I’m calling it:

Shortcut Sausage Spinach Tomato Soup

(I’m sure it has real ingredients too, but I’m working from memory here and kinda making it my own based off what I know my family will like and eat).

1 lb ground sweet or spicy Italian sausage (I used spicy) cooked and drained
1 jar of your favorite marinara or pasta sauce (I used fire roasted tomato and garlic sauce- some random brand that was on sale) < this is your short cut!
4 cups of low or no sodium chicken broth
1 can Cannellini beans
1 box frozen chopped spinach
4 large carrots diced
1 large yellow onion diced
1 box ditallini pasta (or any other small pasta shape that your family likes)

Just throw all the ingredients into a pot, bring it up to a boil, then reduce to simmer for a few minutes. Serve piping hot in nice big bowls with crusty, cheesy bread and a little Parmesan cheese.

Look at the bread- drool. I am definitely a bread person. I could eat bread and call it “dinner” any day of the week!

To make perfect crusty bread, slice an Italian loaf into big chunks, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle liberally with mozzarella cheese. Bake in the oven at 450 for about 10 minutes.

This recipe made a whole lotta soup, people. Seriously. Have it when friends are over, or do what I did and make a few freezer portions as well. Just ladle a few servings into freezer ziplock bags and they’ll be ready for a rainy day this fall.

Brandon and his sister Haley thought the soup tasted “just like Grandma Bonnie’s” -woo hoo! Not that I was trying to fill those shoes, but it can’t hurt to get a compliment like that on a mish mash kind of meal.

Lilly surprised us all by loving this soup and wanting more and more. We make “soup” in the bath tub and in her play kitchen all the time. I think she was just so pleased to be making real soup this time. She was an excellent helper, mixing up the ingredients with a giant wooden spoon.
“More see-oop Mom, more see-oop please!  Mmmm, I love see-oop!” It felt good to finally be able to eat the same dinner all together as a family.

Do you have any favorite soup recipes? Leave me a comment if you do!