Given I was making a small amount of this just for Hubs and me, I didn’t measure ingredients - just eye balled them in smaller amounts…and added other ingredients as well. This is a good, basic recipe; one that easily allows you to embellish upon it, which is what I did. I used mild Italian sausage, first of all. After browning it in a little olive oil I added chopped onion, carrots, celery and garlic and sweated those ingredients. I used my own tomatoes, put up from my garden. I liked the addition of both beef and chicken broths, but didn’t like the idea of the rigatoni, which is too big a pasta for this. Use something smaller, like shells or even elbow macaroni. In this case, I used ditalini. In addition to the ingredients listed I added fresh Swiss chard, the ribs of which I cooked with the celery, carrots and onion, and adding the chopped leaves during the last 10 minutes of cooking. Since pasta absorbs so much liquid, I cooked it first; then added it to the soup at the end. And how could I forget – along with the broths and tomatoes I poured in a good couple of glugs of red wine. I served this with a mix of freshly grated Pecorino Romano and Parmigiano Reggiano and some freshly baked bread sticks. As this recipe’s first reviewer I’m happy to report that this is a good, basic recipe, one you can confidently prepare and still feel comfortable to play around with to accommodate whatever pasta or vegetables you have on hand.
Have made this soup several times this winter for my family and took to work today for a soup luncheon. Huge hit. I've used differing pastas each time. Think we like the smaller pastas better. But over all....a yummy recipe.
I had Italian sausage prepared and browned with the intent of making a spaghetti dish after work then discovered I didn't have any sauce and no time to make a sauce. So I searched for recipes using the sausage and this sounded like a hearty simple dish. I did have my doubts but it was very tasty. I didn't add the beans hubby doesn't like beans used elbow Mac. I added splash of red wine but it probably didn't need it. Just play with the seasonings adding veggie ingredients you like.
The whole family said this is THE best soup I've ever made. We used turkey sweet italian sausage and added a 2 tbsp pouch of recipe ready tomato paste as well as not one but two small cans of tomato sauce. I didn't have garlic or italian seasoning on hand but I put in some garlic powder and 3 tbsp of pesto from a jar and substituted some shredded gruyere cheese for the parmesan. Even changing it up as I did it was WONDERFUL.. Thank you SO much Louise M Soweski for your fabulous contribution!!!
Yummy! Perfect for a cold winter night! I added a little more chicken and beef stock but otherwise I followed the recipe as directed. My kids loved it!!
I used chicken sausage white beans and orzo pasta as substitutes but this was a great recipe. My mom loved it!
Delicious... I added a bag of kale......will definitely make it again.
Really delicious! I added celery and used 1tbs Italian seasoning with sweet Italian sausage. I will be making this a bunch!
This soup was simple (I used spicy turkey ssg) and absolutely delicious.
