With the cold temperatures, we need hot soup! In my head, I can hear an echo of words from the blog site of Conor Bofin at One Man’s Meat, regarding ingredients and how wonderful it is that you can look on the internet to find something to do with the ingredients you have on hand. Sorry, Conor, but I cannot find the post where you said this, but you said it. So here I am with chicken, hot Italian sausage, and fresh spinach, and it what the heck do I do with this? I looked on the internet and no one has made a soup like the one featured in this post! So, here is a new soup recipe, nothing like anyone has done before! It is not only extremely tasty but easy to make! And you know I like easy! Want a preview? OK, only because you said please…

Preview!
Ingredients
1# Hot Italian sausage
3 stalks of celery, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 shallot, chopped finely
6 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup of white wine
6 14.5 oz cans of low sodium chicken broth
2 cups of cooked chicken, cut into chunks
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
3/4 cup frozen peas
1 1/2 cup of chunky cut baby portabella mushrooms
1/4 cup of fresh dill finely chopped
1/4 tsp. celery seed
12 oz. frozen artichoke hearts, defrosted
1 package of pre-washed spinach
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese, shredded
I start by cooking up the sausage so that I can cook most of the fat out of it. Stir the sausage to get it nicely browned.

Pre-cooked hot Italian sausage
When the sausage is done, drain on paper towel and dab with another sheet of paper towel to remove surface grease.
While this is cooking get your mirepox veges ready, plus the garlic. A mirepox, in case you might be new to cooking, is a combo of onion, carrots and celery…In a soup pot add the butter and the mirepox veges plus the garlic. The secret to a good mirepox is to leave it alone. Heat over medium high heat and let it brown on one side before you even stir it.

Mirepox set to caramelize
When the mirepox is done, add the wine and enjoy the aromas as they rise up to fill the kitchen! As the wine cooks down, stir, and then slowly add the chicken broth. Next add the cooked chicken, the white pepper, thyme, peas, baby bellas, dill and celery seed. Bring this up to a boil, and then reduce to a slow simmer. Cook this up for about a 45 minutes, and then add the artichoke hearts.

Add to the artichokes
Bring this back to a boil, and cook another 15 minutes. Then add the spinach leaves, stirring until they are just wilted.

After adding the spinach…
Turn the heat off.
Serve this up in a soup bowl, top with a bit of Parmesan…and enjoy!

Soup’s on!
Joe, are you jealous of the meal P has been served? Just wondering!
This is well worth the effort it takes to make, which is not all that much. It you decide to try this recipe, let me know how it turns out for you!
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