Sopranos Style Sausage Minestrone Food

SLOW COOKER MINESTRONE SOUP WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND PESTO

Steps:

• In a large soup pot, brown the Italian sausage over medium to medium-high heat. Drain the fat.
• Meanwhile, chop the onion, celery, carrots, and garlic.
• Add the tomato paste, onions, celery, carrots, garlic, and dried oregano.
• Saute for about 5 minutes.
• Add the can of Italian tomatoes and chicken broth. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 30-45 minutes, until all the carrots are tender.
• Add both cans of beans, the zucchini, yellow squash, and dry pasta. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
• Simmer another 10 minutes, until the pasta is cooked.
• At this point, you can add another cup or two of chicken broth, if you feel like it's not "soupy" enough.
• Turn off the heat and stir in the baby spinach. I like to roughly chop mine so it's easier to eat, but you don't have to!
• Wait about 5 minutes for the spinach to wilt, and then it's ready to serve. Season with salt and pepper. (I actually didn't add any! Sign of a killer soup, right?)
• Garnish each bowl with a teaspoon of pesto and a few grates of Parmesan cheese.

SOPRANOS-STYLE SAUSAGE MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Cook sausage in a big skillet over high heat, breaking up any large pieces, until it is no longer pink.
• Transfer sausage to the insert of a 5-7 quart slow cooker.
• Remove all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the skillet and add the olive oil.
• Add in the prosciutto and saute for 2 minutes, until it begins to get crisp.
• Add in onions, carrots, celery, rosemary, and saute until the onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
• Deglaze the pan with the wine and boil until the wine is reduced by half, about 3 minutes.
• Add in the tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes.
• Transfer the contents of the skillet to the slow-cooker insert; stir in the potatoes, beans, zucchini, lentils, escarole, cheese rind, and broth.
• Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours, until the soup is thickened and the lentils are softened.

MINESTRONE AND SAUSAGE SOUP

Steps:

• Brown sausage in skillet until fully cooked; drain excess grease.
• In a large stock pot add beef broth, water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, kidney beans, celery, carrots, onion salt, garlic salt, and Italian seasoning. Simmer until veggies become tender, about 20-30 minutes.
• In a separate pot, cook pasta according to directions. When noodles are done, add to soup and mix in cooked sausage.
• Top with shredded Parmesan cheese and serve.