Italian Sausage and Potato Soup

It’s a crappy day in North Texas. It’s cold. It’s rainy and it’s windy. What better day than today to have soup for dinner. Krista shared this Betty Crocker recipe with me. I’ve adapted it a little to my taste.

Hearty Italian Sausage and Potato Soup

- Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker

Ingredients:

1 pound lean bulk Italian pork sausage (I used hot Italian sausage)

1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)

1/2 cup of chopped celery (I used 1 cup)

1 clove garlic, minced or 1/8 garlic powder (I love garlic, so I used a little over a tablespoon)

2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) chicken broth

1 can (14 1/2 ounces) Italian-styled diced tomatoes, undrained (I forgot to include the tomatoes in the picture above. Oops…)

1 cup of water

1 package Betty Crocker Julienne Potatoes

1 cup milk (I used half and half, but Krista used heavy cream)

1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (I used about a cup and a half of fresh chopped spinach)

Cook sausage, onion, celery and garlic in a large pot over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the sausage is no longer pink. Drain.

Stir in broth, tomatoes, water, Betty Crocker Julienne Potatoes and Sauce Mix. Boil over high heat. When the soup comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low; cover and simmer for 15 minutes until potatoes are tender.

Stir in milk and spinach. Simmer for 5 minutes. Since I used fresh spinach instead of the frozen kind, I let it cook for longer than 5 minutes.

This soup reminds me of the Zuppa Toscana (Tuscan Soup) at Oliver Garden. The Italian sausage wasn’t very spicy after simmering in the broth, so I added red chili flakes to my soup. This recipe makes a lot of soup. Well, I should say that it makes a lot of soup for one person. So, guess what I’ll be eating for the rest of the week…