Smoked Sausage Minestrone
It was a cold morning in Toronto today. The kids have cross country practice before school so they were bundled up, some even with toques and mitts to make sure they were warm during their practice.
With fall around the corner, and the colder weather arriving, I figure that it is time to share a soup recipe. I love soup. A big bowl of soup warms you up on the inside during those cold fall and winter days.
Today’s soup is a variety of minestrone. I recently learned that minestrone means “big soup”. I love that name because I want my soup to be big, bold and full of ingredients! This minestrone is my kind of soup.
Every bite is different than the last and there is so much flavour! I used smoked sausages that I made in my Bradley Smoker out of Italian sausages (recipe is here). Any kind of store bought smoked sausage would work.
I have also made this with kielbasa and it turned out great! Andouille, or even cooked Italian sausage would work.
Smoked Sausage Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 1/2 pounds sliced smoked sausage , andouille or kielbasa
- 2 onions , diced
- 3 celery stalks , diced
- 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
- 10 cups of water (or more if needed)
- 1 can black beans , drained
- 2 cups frozen corn
- 2 cups frozen peas
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp dry thyme
- 1 tsp oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups dry pasta (small shapes for soup like macaroni, mini bows or alphabet)
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, heat oil and add sliced sausage, onions and celery. Cook on medium heat until the onions are transparent. Add the crushed tomatoes, water, beans, corn and peas and bring to a boil.
- Lower heat to a simmer so that the soup is just barely boiling. Add the herbs, salt and pepper and let the soup cook for about 20 minutes.
- Stir in the pasta and let the soup cook until the pasta is tender, about 10 minutes. Check the thickness of the soup and add a bit more water if needed.
- Serve hot with buns or crackers.