Sausage Minestrone soup was pretty good. It wasn’t fantastic, but it was good. It was a bit too spicy, so I’m going to cut the red pepper flakes in half, from 1/4 t to 1/8. I’m also going to add more pasta, because my dad and I felt there was too little. It was a nice dinner with Italian bread and a salad. The bread was store bought. I should look into making my own sometime, and do a soup and bread night like Megan used to do. Here is the recipe for the soup with my added changes. I think I liked the pasta e fagioli better, and that didn’t have meat in it.

Sausage Minestrone Soup

2 T Extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups water
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (10.5 oz) chicken broth
1 t dried basil leaves

1 t dried oregano leaves
1/8 t crushed red pepper
12 oz Italian turkey sausage, thoroughly browned
2/3 cup pasta – ditalini or small shells
1 (16 oz) cannellini beans, drained

Heat oil in large saucepan over med heat. Add onion and garlic cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add water, tomatoes with liquid, broth, basil, oregano and crushed pepper. Bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, cut sausage crosswise into ½-inch slices. Cut each slice into quarters. Stir sausage, and pasta into soup; simmer 13 minutes or until pasta is tender. Add beans; cook until heated through.

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Speaking of Megan, she called me today, and we talked for a whole hour! I still miss her and I still wish that she and Mac would move home to the US. She said that Mac wouldn’t be able to get a job, but they could live near me, and he could help me run my garden and tend to the chickens! We would have our own little eco-community.

I spent a lot of time today looking at recipes to make later this week. I think I want to try a potato soup. It will be like a clam chowder, but without clams. They make a good one at Panera Bread that I enjoy. It’s the only one I’ve ever had. Monday night I have class, so I won’t be making anything. Wednesday night we’re going out to dinner with Bob and Gail for Gail’s birthday. That’s two days I don’t need to make dinner.

While talking to Megan, I mentioned to her that it seems like every single dinner they make is delicious. She is always writing on her blog about how wonderful their dinner was. I don’t understand how they can continuously cook fantastic meals. Megan explained it differently, and said that perhaps she just isn’t picky. Either way, I still find it amazing that they are able to cook meal after meal that she (and probably also Mac) find delicious. I thought the pot pie was delicious, but I don’t think that this soup was. I’d give it 3/5 stars. The pot pie gets 5/5!  Perhaps I should start rating all of my recipes like this.

I also need to get better at photographing my meals.  I should decorate my plate with fancy napkins, and decorate the food with fresh basil or parsley.  I also should not use my iPhone as my camera!  It makes the food look not-so-good.

Update (the next morning):  I tried my first hand at food photography!  I think they came out pretty damn good!  Muuuuuuch better than the iPhone.