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Italian Sausage Soup w/Caramelized Fennel & Ditalini Recipe

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This recipe for Italian Sausage Soup w/Caramelized Fennel & Ditalini is from The Bernardy Family Cookbook Project, one of the cookbooks created at FamilyCookbookProject.com. We'll help you start your own personal cookbook! It's easy and fun. Click here to start your own cookbook!


Category:
Category:

Ingredients:  
Ingredients:  
12oz Italian sausage
1-14.5oz can diced tomatoes
1 leek
1 fennel bulb
1 clove garlic
¼ cup white wine
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 teaspoons tomato paste
32oz chicken stock
3oz ditalini pasta (Ditalini pasta is a small tubular pasta used in soups. The name ditalini means "little thimbles". The classic use for this pasta is for Pasta E Fagioli, pasta and bean soup. Substitute any other small pasta for Ditalini.
2oz baby spinach
½ oz grated Parmesan cheese
Olive oil
salt & pepper
8" medium pot

Tips
Leeks grow in sandy soil, which means that they absorb water, along with a little dirt, through their layered leaves. Separating and soaking them helps remove all of the grit between each layer. Don't drain leeks, or the dirt at the bottom will pour over them. Instead, use a slotted spoon or your hands to remove them from the water, then pat dry before adding them to the pot to avoid splattering.

Directions:
Directions:
1. Brown Sausage
Heat ½ tablespoon olive oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. When oil is shimmering, add sausage and cook, breaking up, until browned, 4-5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer sausage to a bowl, leaving behind any juices in pot, and set aside. Reserve pot for step 3.

2. Prepare Ingredients (While sausage cooks, or before)
Trim and discard dark green top of leek, if present. Halve leek lengthwise, then cut crosswise into ¼-inch half moons. Place in a bowl of cold water, separating the pieces with your fingers, to let dirt sink to bottom. Rinse fennel and halve, then cut core out in a wedge shape and discard. Slice fennel as thinly as possible. Mince garlic.

3. Caramelize Fennel & Leek
Remove leek from water and pat dry with paper towel. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in pot from sausage over medium heat. When oil is shimmering, add leek and fennel. Saute until fennel is softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add wine and cook until mostly evaporated, 1-2 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring, until fennel is browned and caramelized, 2-3 minutes more.

4. Saute Aromatics
Add crushed red pepper and tomato paste to pot with vegetables over medium-high heat. Saute, stirring, until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Season with salt & pepper as desired.

5. Simmer Soup
Add chicken stock and tomatoes to pot with vegetables. Return browned sausage to pot. Bring soup to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium and simmer until flavors are melded, 5-6 minutes.

6. Cook Pasta and Plate Soup
Stir in ditalini, or substitute, into pot over medium heat and cook until pasta is al dente, about 8 minutes. Rinse spinach, pat dry with paper towel, and stir in to wilt, 1-2 minutes more. Season with salt & pepper as desired. Divide Italian sausage soup between serving bowls, sprinkle over Parmesan and dig in!

Number Of Servings:
Number Of Servings:
2-3 (690 calories per serving)
Preparation Time:
Preparation Time:
30-40 minutes

 

 

 

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