Italian Sausage and Bean Soup

I had some sweet Italian Sausage hanging in the freezer as well as 6 quarts of chicken stock in the outside fridge… so I decided to make some kind of soup.

Here’s what I came up with:

3 links of sweet Italian Sausage
1 large or 2 med onions chopped
4 slices of bacon – fine dice
3 cloves chopped garlic
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp crushed red pepper
small sprig of rosemary – whole
a few thyme branches
half a package of fresh-washed spinach
1 15oz can of canallini beans
2 quarts of chicken stock
1 28oz. can of whole Italian tomatoes
handful of linguine – broken into 1/2 inch length

In a soup pot, render the fat from the bacon with a little olive oil. Dice the onion and garlic and cook in the rendering until the onion is translucent. Add a reasonable amount of salt and pepper and the red pepper. In a separate pan, fry up the Italian sausage until very well done, slice it up in smaller pieces, fry again until all of the insides are well done, then add to the soup pot. Add back in the cooked bacon. Add the rosemary sprig and thyme, then add the chicken stock and stir. Bring it to a slow simmer, then add the tomatoes and beans. Half an hour before serving add the spinach and the pasta (linguine – or use your favorite pasta or whatever you have on hand). Good Stuff !!!

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