Sausage Soup

I'm back, haven't written anything for a week but we must have eaten something. Probably just leftovers or went out a lot. As I said before, the reason I started doing this was because I can't remember my favorite recipes (or even what I did yesterday) so who's surprised that I don't know what we ate over the last week.

Yesterday I made one of our favorite soups to go with drinks and appetizers we were going to have with some friends today. Originally it was just going to be drinks and appetizers at 4:00 PM but why should anyone have to go home and make dinner.

We got this soup recipe from Larry's daughter Kris. She said she pureed all the beans and that way her kids ate it without knowing what was in it. Hopefully they never read this. She found the recipe in the January Paula Deen magazine and surprisingly this is a very healthy recipe. We also had French Cosmos (the ladies did) and that recipe is here too. Enjoy!!

ITALIAN SAUSAGE SOUP
Makes 8 to 10 servings
1 (16-ounce) package sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 cup minced celery
1 cup minced carrot
3 (14-ounce) cans beef broth
2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes with basil, oregano, and garlic
1 (16-ounce) can dark red kidney beans, drained
1 (16-ounce) can light red kidney beans, drained
1 (15.5-ounce) can great Northern beans, drained
2 cups ditalini pasta
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
In a large Dutch oven, cook sausage, onion, celery, and carrot over medium-high heat until sausage is browned and crumbles. Drain well. Stir in broth, tomatoes, and beans; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add pasta; simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, or until pasta is tender. Stir in salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Note: Ditalini pasta is short tubes of macaroni. Soup can be frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw in refrigerator before reheating.
Another Note: If you cook the pasta in the soup it will absorb all the liquid and be more like a stew.
January/February 2009 Cooking with Paula Deen


French Cosmopolitan ( original recipe from drinkmixer.com)
4 parts citron Vodka
2 part Grand Marnier or Triple Sec
2 part Sweet and Sour Mix
2 part Cranberry Juice
1 part lime juice (I used Rose's)
drop grenadine syrup

Pour all ingredients (except grenadine) into a shaker, shake well and strain into a chilled large martini glass. Pour a drop of grenadine into the middle of the glass and let it fall to bottom. (It will color the stem red.) Garnish with a slice of lime, and serve.