It is cold here in Dallas and getting colder by the hour. I love it. The fireplace is on, Randy is working in his little cubby office and we just finished having a cup of coffee and a donut from our favorite donut shop in the world. Seriously we sit there and after each bite, we look at the donut to see if we can possibly see what they do to make then so soft. We just cannot figure out why these donuts are so different. When the rest of the world discovers this place, Dunkin won’t stand a chance. But on to my soup story. Over the weekend, I bought some Italian ground sausage and fresh spinach and had just picked up some spinach-ricotta filled tortellini from Trader Joes, I decided to make us a soup for the cold weather we knew would be here this week. This soup is so good and so filling and goes perfectly with garlic bread. Yep, thats all you need. Garlic bread and soup and then of course some of these amazing cinnamon twists from Donut Palace at Frankfort and the Tollway in Dallas. I cannot lie, I also get a jelly filled donut so I don’t have to decide between the two.
2 cans (8 oz each) tomato sauce
2 cans (14.5 oz) chicken broth
1/2 lb of mild ground Italian Sausage
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 small onion, chopped
1 carrot, diced
1/2 bell pepper
1/2 teas Italian Seasoning
1 teas fresh garlic or 1/2 teas garlic powder (I added a little more plus a little more garlic as we love it with added flavor)
In a small skillet, brown the meat with the onion and bell pepper until meat is done. Add the seasonings, and add salt and pepper to your liking.
Transfer to a large saucepan. Add the meat mixture to the saucepan and add the tomato sauce, chicken broth, (Also, you might want to add about a cup of water to the mixture) cup up carrot, 2 cups of chopped fresh spinach and cook for about 30 min over low heat until carrots and spinach are done. Add about 2 cups of the tortellini to the boiling soup and cook according to the package directions. Mine said to cook them about 5 min. We both sprinkled a little parmesan cheese over the top and indulged ourselves with the soup and a few (no I won’t tell you how many slices we had) of wonderful hot garlic/butter bread. But we did save room for the other donuts that were still in the box. And forgive me, we ate the soup so quickly, I forgot to take a picture. But will be making it again very soon, so will add a picture to this post when we do.
Isn’t it so much fun to create something that turns out really good from just things you already have in your house? This soup turned out to be a winner. I had half of a chicken breast left over and decided to try something different.
Chocolate Castles as wel 