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Italian Vegetable Soup with Chicken and Sausage

This soup strikes just the right spot — cozy and hearty and filling but not rich. It’s full of vegetables and you can use whatever is on hand, so it is a good one to make when you are cleaning out your refrigerator.
Servings: 12 cups
Author: Sarah Heffron

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • ½ pound Italian sausage
  • 1½ cup coarsely chopped onion
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1½ cups carrots cut in medium dice
  • ¾ cup celery cut in medium dice
  • 1 cup zucchini cut in medium dice
  • ½ cup butternut squash cut in medium dice
  • ½ cup red or green peppers cut in medium dice
  • ½ cup rutabaga cut in medium dice
  • ½ cup cauliflower coarsely chopped
  • 1½ cup canned tomatoes with their juice coarsely chopped (I used canned ½diced tomatoes)
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped green cabbage
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ¼ teaspoon thyme
  • ¼ teaspoon oregano
  • ¼ teaspoon basil
  • 1 heaping tablespoon salt
  • Good grinding of black pepper
  • 9 cups homemade chicken broth
  • ¼ cup orzo
  • 1½ cups potatoes cut in medium dice
  • 1½ cups cooked chicken cut in medium pieces

Instructions

  • In a large stockpot, heat olive oil. Cook sausage in oil until brown. Remove, let cool and cut into small pieces. Reserve.
  • To the oil remaining in pot, add onion, garlic, carrots, celery, zucchini, butternut squash, rutabaga and cauliflower. Sweat vegetables over medium heat until fragrant, about five minutes, stirring from time to time.
  • Add tomatoes, cabbage, potatoes, broth, thyme, bay leaf, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes.
  • Add peppers and orzo and cook 10 minutes longer.
  • Add chicken and cut up sausage. Return to boil and adjust seasoning.

Notes

When I made this recipe, we had no chicken. Rather than have to go out and buy chicken (only 1½ cups), I decided to omit the chicken, slightly increase the amount of sausage, and add a larger portion of each of the vegetables. It turned out to be delicious.
If you wanted to make this vegetarian, it would be easy to omit the sausage and chicken, substitute chicken broth with vegetable broth, and bulk up on the vegetables.