Happy Feed Me Friday!
It may be March, but I still want warm, comforting food for dinner! Even though this IS the month spring technically arrives, this week has been full of winter weather for MANY. We had one day this week that chilled me to the bone, and I was fighting (still am) a nasty cold, on top of it. We’ve emptied more than a few tissue boxes around here in the last few weeks.
There was no better answer for “What’s for dinner?” than a really hot, hearty, healthy bowl of soup.
I started with a recipe from a Farmers Almanac and came up with my version of:
Turkey, Spinach & Bow Tie Pasta Soup
- 1 pound of turkey breakfast sausage
- 1 medium sweet onion, diced
- 1 1/2 T. minced garlic
- 1 can (28 oz) of diced Italian tomatoes
- 4 cups of water + 2 chicken bouillon cubes
- 16 oz. bow tie pasta
- 1o oz. chopped frozen spinach, slightly thawed
- 1 can (15 oz) cannellini beans, drained & rinsed
- In a large pot, brown the sausage with the onion and garlic and cook ’til the onions are tender. There’s so little grease in turkey that you don’t need to drain it, but watch it carefully, so it doesn’t burn. You might add a little water, if it gets too dry.
- Chop up the sausage into bite-sized pieces. Stir in the tomatoes, 4 c. water & bouillon cubes. Bring it to a boil and stir to combine.
- Add the spinach and stir a few times to break it up, allowing the soup to stay at a low boil. Add 2 more cups of water and bring it to a boil.
- Add the cannellini beans and the pasta, and cook until the pasta is tender, about 10 minutes.
I also love it that this recipe has only 8 ingredients. Only one of those is a perishable (if you don’t count the onion/garlic). That makes it an awesome recipe to keep stocked in your pantry for the unexpected winter blast of March or the unwelcome virus to hit your home. It has sort of a Mediterranean-Italian-you’re on vacation kind of look and taste to it. We tossed a handful of shaved Parmesan cheese on top, and it really turned out quite “Food Networkish.” Consider that it wasn’t that expensive, messy, or time consuming, and I’d say I have a keeper!
I served this with toasted homemade bread, and it made a comforting March-soup dinner by the fireplace. Spring is still officially about 2 weeks away, so there’s still time to make this hearty, healthy soup!
What are you making in your kitchen this weekend?
Did you take the turkey out of the casings before browning? I do a similar soup & put cheese tortellini in for the pasta. Can’t wait to try yours, sounds sooo good!
The kind I bought came out the plastic wrapper without casings, so it made it very easy to cook. I like the idea of cheese tortellini!