Ontario Winter Vegetable Minestrone Soup with Sausage

"Soup puts the heart at ease, calms down the violence of hunger, eliminates the tension of the day, and awakens and refines the appetite." Auguste Esoffier

Bonjourno my followers, I hope you all had a lovely weekend!
So here we are, the last week of 'Soup Month." It's gone by quickly, hasn't it? But, I feel it was exactly what my blog needed and hopefully it will inspire all of us to keep our tummies full of delicious soup all winter long! Today's choice is a classic... Minestrone. This soup is one of my favourites and can be made any time of the year. With the different vegetables being harvested with each season, minestrone can be made a million different ways. You know, this though crossed my mind while making it and I had a great idea! I'm going to make a different minestrone soup each season this year with the variety of each harvest! Why not?! This minestrone is full of wintry goodness. A sacrifice of using tinned tomatoes and dried herbs is the consequence of cooking this time of year, but there is nothing wrong with that in my books (as long as your ingredients are of good quality). Even though minestrone is traditionally a vegetable soup, I have decided to add sausage and pasta, just because it's super tasty!

Simple and Tasty Recipe:

Ontario Winter Vegetable Minestrone Soup with Sausage
(serves 6 to 8)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, rough chop
1 carrot, rough chop
1 celery stalk, rough chop
3-4 cloves garlic, rough chop
4 Italian sausages (mild or hot), meat taken out of the casings
2 cups locally grown winter vegetables (celeriac, turnip, parsnip, cabbage, potato, sweet potato, etc.)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp each dried basil and oregano
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
2 tins ( ml each), beans (kidney, broad, navy, garbanzo, etc.), drained and rinsed
1 tin (ml), diced tomatoes
1 1/2 litre chicken or vegetable stock (found on my 'Recipes' page), or water
1/2 cup dried pasta
2 tbsp fresh parsley, rough chop

.in a large pot heat the oil on medium and toss in the sausage, all the chopped vegetables and herbs with a generous pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper
.cover with a lid and stir occasionally until the sausages are fully cooked, about 10 mins
.add in the beans, tinned tomatoes and stock, bring to the boil, reduce heat to low, cover with the lid and slowly simmer for about 45 mins
meanwhile...
.cook your pasta in a pot on the side until it is just el dente, drain and rinse under cold water and set aside until the soup is done
.when done, stir in the pasta and parsley, adjust the seasoning, buon appetito!

As always, go ahead and use different seasonal veggies to make it your own. Also, omitting the meat and pasta is easily done and will not take away from the flavour. This soup is so hearty and chocked full of so much yummy goodness, it makes a perfect one pot meal for guests. I love to serve my minestrone in nice deep bowls with a drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil and some freshly grated Parmesan cheese. A nice loaf of crusty bread on the side with a little more olive oil for dippin' and you've got the perfect winter dinner! This soup is one of those that is always better the next day and truth be told, I made it on Saturday but Kev and I didn't eat it till dinner last night! I have portioned out the rest and put it in the freezer, and I can guarantee it will be just as good when reheated. Well, followers 'Soup Month' will continue on Wednesday! See you then!