This is a nice soup to use up your fresh garden tomatoes. I omit the tomato paste and diced tomatoes and added around 20 tomatoes from my garden that I blanched, peeled, chopped, and tossed in the pot. Great soup from Family Fun magazine.
Ingredients
1 ½ lbs ground Italian sausage
2 onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons oregano
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (28oz.) can diced tomatoes
6 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
8 ounces fusilli pasta
½ cup finely chopped fresh basil
Salt and pepper to taste
Cheese mix
8 ounces ricotta
½ cup grated parmesan
¼ teaspoon salt
pinch of pepper
2 cups shredded mozzarella
Method
|
1. In a large pot, heat sausage over medium heat breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon, unitl the sausage is no longer pink, about 5 to 7 minutes. Drain any excess fat from the pot. Add the onions and saute until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and saute for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and saute until the paste turns a rusty brown, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice, the broth, and the bay leaves and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.
|
|
2. Add the pasta, then increase the heat to medium-high and boil the soup until the pasta is tender to the bite, following the time recommendations on the pasta package. Discard the bay leaves, then stir in the basil. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
|
|
3. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, the parmesan, the 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and the pinch of pepper. To serve, place about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture in each bowl, sprinkle with some of the mozzarella, and ladle the soup of top.
|
|
