Monday Minestrone

Today was a bone-chilling, windy day and I was needing to make dinner for 3 families--solution: big ole' pot of soup. I thought I would tweak my minestrone recipe a bit and I liked how turned out. The nice thing about minestrone is you can tweak it all you want--throw in a can of this, a can of that, diced up this, diced up that... You can't really go wrong. I even forgot to throw in some diced zucchini (darn!) but the kids were forgiving of that omission. I did love the addition of the Parmesan rind (a Rachael Ray trick)--it added great flavor. You could also add garbanzo beans, white beans, green beans...whatever floats your boat :) This pot fed 8 adults and 4 kiddos, not bad.

Monday Minestrone, revisited
1 lb mild Italian sausage
1 lg onion, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
3-4 carrots, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 Tbsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf
2 cans Italian stewed tomatoes
2 cans chicken stock
2 cans water
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1 can kidney beans, rinsed
1 can pork and beans
1/2 box ditalini pasta (or other small pasta)
2-3 handfuls fresh spinach, cut into pieces
Italian parsley, minced
small Parmesan rind
grated Parmesan

1. Brown sausage in large pot. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Put aside.
2. Saute onions, celery and carrots in pot with sausage drippings (add a little olive oil if needed) for a few minutes. Add garlic and saute a minute longer. Add herbs and tomato paste.
3. Add tomatoes, chicken stock, water, bay leaf and rind. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until veggies are cooked.
4. In separate pot, cook pasta al dente. Drain.
5. Add sausage and beans to soup while pasta is cooking.
6. Add pasta, spinach, and parsley to soup. Heat through until spinach is wilted.
7. Top with grated Parmesan and serve with crusty bread.