Italian Sausage and Vegetable Soup

The inspiration for what I cook comes from all sorts of places.  Sometimes, a favorite food memory comes flooding forth. At times I have requests from others for favorite dishes. Frequently, I have a particular objective to meet for an article or a recipe for my cookbook that drives the main ingredient for a dish.  Today was one of those days when I needed to clean out my refrigerator and use up a lot of leftover meats and some vegetables.  When I only have vegetables and herbs to use, I will roast up a big ol’ batch. When I have both meats and produce to use, my favorite way to utilize them is in a soup or stew like Italian Sausage and Vegetable Soup.

I’m also fond of the BBQ sauce I make when I need to clean out the remnants of condiments from my refrigerator.  I’ve never written an article about that, as of yet.  You wouldn’t believe the tasty sauce you can make with a little bit of this and lot of that.  That is a project that I will doing again soon.

So, for my little bit of this and a lot of that soup, I sautéed sweet onions, carrots, sweet mini peppers, zucchini and fresh picked celery stalks.

I harvested leaves before to add to dishes, but today was the first day I harvested a few tender stalks.  The degree of  crunchiness was quite a nice surprise. The added bonus was the generous helping of leaves.  My, oh my.  I’m hooked on fresh celery.

For meats, I had a pound of uncooked bulk Italian sausage and some glazed ham.  I added a can of diced tomatoes and stock.  As simple as that,  lunch and dinner is done.  With only two of us to feed today, I might have made tomorrow’s lunch, too.

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Italian Sausage and Vegetable Soup

Caramelizing vegetables before adding them to soups and stews add a whopping amount of flavor. Cut your vegetables in uniform pieces for even cook time. When using Parmesan cheese as a garnish, be mindful of the amount of salt you add to your dish.  Parmesan is a very salty cheese.  Leafy green vegetables can be added to soups and stews and often are tolerated by folks who don’t think they like leafy green vegetables.  Spinach would go nicely in this pot.  I added in bunches of celery leaves instead.

2 tablespoons cooking oil

4 carrots, peeled and diced

2 medium sweet onions, diced

3 celery stalks plus lots of  leaves, diced

4 mini sweet peppers, diced

1 quart stock

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 pound bulk mild Italian sausage

1 cup ham, diced

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Grated Parmesan cheese for garnish.

Heat a large cast iron skillet to medium heat.  Add two tablespoons cooking oil.  Saute carrots, onions, zucchini, celery and sweet peppers until caramelized, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Raw veggies on the left. Veggies sautéed for 25 minutes on the right.

Add cooked veggies, stock and tomatoes to soup pot.  Turn the heat under the skillet up to medium high.   Add sausage and ham.  Cook until sausage is browned and crumbled.  Pour contents into soup pot.  Deglaze pan with red wine vinegar and add to pot.

Add garlic powder to soup and stir well.  Simmer on low for one hour.

Garnish with parmesan cheese.

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5 from 1 vote

Italian Sausage and Vegetable Soup

Author: Jackie Garvin

Ingredients

• Caramelizing vegetables before adding them to soups and stews add a whopping amount of flavor. Cut your vegetables in uniform pieces for even cook time. When using Parmesan cheese as a garnish be mindful of the amount of salt you add to your dish. Parmesan is a very salty cheese. Leafy green vegetables can be added to soups and stews and often are tolerated by folks who don't think they like leafy green vegetables. Spinach would go nicely in this pot. I added in bunches of celery leaves instead.
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 4 carrots peeled and diced
• 2 medium sweet onions diced
• 3 celery stalks plus lots of leaves diced
• 4 mini sweet peppers diced
• 1 quart stock
• 1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 pound bulk mild Italian sausage
• 1 cup ham diced
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• Grated Parmesan cheese for garnish.

Instructions

• Heat a large cast iron skillet to medium heat. Add two tablespoons cooking oil. Saute carrots, onions, zucchini, celery and sweet peppers until caramelized, about 25 to 30 minutes.
• raw veggies on the left. Veggies sauteed for 25 minutes on the right.
• Raw veggies on the left. Veggies sautéed for 25 minutes on the right.
• Add cooked veggies, stock and tomatoes to soup pot. Turn the heat under the skillet up to medium high. Add sausage and ham. Cook until sausage is browned and crumbled. Pour contents into soup pot. Deglaze pan with red wine vinegar and add to pot.
• Add garlic powder to soup and stir well. Simmer on low for one hour.
• Garnish with parmesan cheese.

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