How to Make the Best Italian Sausage and Vegetable Soup

Soup is great anytime of the year, but when it's cold outside nothing seems to satisfy as much as a hot bowl of filling soup. Here's a quick and easy way to make the best Italian Sausage and Vegetable soup!

You can fix this as an appetizer or main entrée in less than 90 minutes.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 1 lb. spicy Italian sausage
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 1 small zucchini, chopped
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 2 cans ( 14 1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups dry lentils, rinsed
• Black pepper, red pepper flakes, basil, oregano, parsley, thyme, to taste
• Blender

1. Brown sausage in pan, drain off fat. Remove skin and chop into little bite-sized pieces.

2. In a large pot, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about an hour, or until lentils are tender.

3. Add water (or more chicken broth) if necessary, for desired consistency. Stir occasionally, and keep tasting and adding seasonings, if needed.

4. Before serving, take half of the pot of soup and puree it, and then return it back to the pot. This makes it wonderfully thick and yet mixes perfectly with the rest of the soup.

5. Sprinkle bowls of soup with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Tips & Warnings

• Serve immediately!
• Soup can store for months in a freezer.

[xxdesertash]

on 1/26/2009 Sounds great! Thanks 5*

[SophiaMaria]

on 1/25/2009 Mmmm! This sounds delicious! I love Italian sausage and preparing it in a soup sounds great. Thanks!

[Gourmet2Go]

on 1/24/2009 Sounds wonderful, thanks for sharing!