Seasoned sausage meat is extremely underrated in my opinion. You can get a wealth of flavors and textures from buying sausage meat in bulk, and using it in your soups, stuffings, side dishes and even salads. It's basically a shortcut to seasoning your own meat and giving the flavors time to marry.

By using pre-seasoned bulk sausage meat and canned beans in this recipe, I was able to basically eliminate prep time, get a really rich and deep flavor, and also create a meal in a bowl. This was ready in 30 minutes, prep time included, and when served with a slice of bread, it fills you up.

Ingredients

2 lbs chicken or pork spicy Italian sausage

1 onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped

8 cups of chicken stock

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

2 bay leaves

1-2 tbsp red chili flakes

2 (15 oz/425g) cans of Cannellini or white beans

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 bunch of spinach or chard, chopped (or 8 oz/227 g bag of washed baby spinach)

Pepper to taste

Salt to taste

Equipment

1 pot with a heavy base bottom

Directions

1. Heat the pot on medium high. Once hot, add the sausage and stir, breaking up the meat into small pieces, until cooked through. No need to add fat, unless you bought really lean sausage.

2. Add in the onion, garlic, and some salt. Depending on the saltiness of your stock, you may want to hold off on salting until the end. Sauté until the onions are softened and somewhat transparent

3. Add the stock, nutmeg, bay leaves, chili flakes and bring to a simmer.

4. Once simmering, add the cream, beans and spinach. stir in until the spinach is just wilted. Taste, and add more salt and pepper to your liking.

5. Voila, your meal is ready to enjoy!

I like to enjoy this with bread, but to make it even heartier, add some cooked Barilla Ditalini noodles right at the end

#Cozy #Soup #ItalianSausage #Spinach #Cannellini #Beans #Spicy