Sausage, Cannellini Bean and Farfalle Soup

This is one of our favorite weeknight soups.  It cooks up fast, works for both parents and kids, and is all real food.  It’s an oldie from Cooking Light and it still delivers.  We make it with spinach instead of kale as in the original recipe.  I find kale is a little too tough/salty/gritty to make quickly.  Another time saver is to buy prechopped onion and garlic.  I always buy the chopped garlic in the largest size available, usually in the produce area.  On Sundays I will prep my onions if I am making a lot of recipes during the week.  I put all the chopped onions in a glass storage container and just measure out what I need for each recipe.

Sausage, Cannellini Beans and Spinach soup
Ingredients
8 ounces farfalle pasta (cheese tortellini is another option)
1/4 cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 links turkey Italian sausage (originally we made it with hot, not with kids we do sweet)
3 garlic cloves minced (I buy the prechopped garlic, such a time saver and cheap)
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 (14 ounce) can fat-free, low sodium chicken broth. (we use our own)
1 (16 ounce) package of baby spinach
1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained. (look for low-sodium)
1 ounce shaved fresh Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup)

Instructions
1. Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain, but reserve about 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
2. Scoop out 1/4 cup of the sun dried tomatoes in a small bowl.  I use kitchen shears to cut the tomatoes over the bowl.  Then use a spatula to scoop the tomatoes and oil into a large Dutch oven.  Heat over medium heat and add onion and sausage (removed from the casings) to the pan; cook 10 minutes or until sausage is browned.
3. Add garlic to pan; cook one minute.  Add seasoning, pepper and broth.  Simmer for 5 minutes or until headed through.
4. Add beans, pasta and spinach.  Stir spinach in so it gets submerged and wilts.
5. Serve with Parmesan cheese on top.

Makes 6 servings.

For the kids, I drain out the liquid and serve on plates.  The beans are always the first to go!

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this post is shared with The Green Resource, Sunday Night Soup and Frugally Sustainable