What do you make when it's 106 degrees outside? Soup, of course!! Hot soup opens your pores on a hot day, causes you to sweat more, increases evaporation, and helps your body better regulate internal temperature. No, really... It's science (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22574769/)! You're welcome... ;-)
I came across this recipe by happenstance and thought it looked like it could be a crowd-pleaser. Italian soups are sometimes a little hit-or-miss for my tastebuds, personally, but (like much of Italian cuisine) most people seem drawn to the hearty, comforting taste of a quality dish, and soup is no exception. But, how did this one come out? Let's see...
This recipe came from: https://www.yummly.com/recipe/CREAMY-ITALIAN-SAUSAGE-SOUP-2284161#directionsVariations from the Recipe as Written: I doubled the recipe. And, I put the whole tomatoes in the blender and "pulsed" them into a rough pulp. That's it!
General Thoughts: The prep on this one wasn't that bad... The first step was to boil the pasta, rinse it, and set it to the side for later. I was very happy to see this, as this is how I usually prefer to prepare my pasta for soup. By cooking the pasta separately, giving it a cold water rinse, and then adding it back to the soup right before serving (as opposed to cooking the pasta in the soup itself), I can keep my pasta truly al dente, which makes it a much more pleasant dining experience. After the pasta was prepped, I used ground Italian sausage, pre-diced onions, and pre-shredded cheeses to save some time, so the rest of it went fairly quickly.
Potential Improvements? This was another great soup that was terrific as-is, but I might be interested to try a couple tweaks... I'd like to add a bit of pepper to the pot (when I cracked some black pepper into my bowl, it added additional depth to the flavor). Lisa added some garbanzo beans (aka, chickpeas) to her bowl (as a substitute for the pasta), which I thought was brilliant, and I'd love to try adding some in the future. And, I think I might add about 50% more Italian sausage and brown it in slightly larger chunks (i.e., bite-sized pieces rather than ground beef taco-sized crumbles).
Polling the Fam: I really liked this one and will definitely make it again! Becky thought it was good and voted for more sausage, but she wasn't a huge fan of the chunks of tomatoes. Jayson really enjoyed it and couldn't think of anything to make it better. Lisa thought the flavors were great and said she'd favor more sausage (in bigger chunks). Andrew liked it a lot. Hunter thought it was really good and said it reminded him of a tortellini soup that I made previously (https://soupersleuth.blogspot.com/2019/08/sunday-soup-84-creamy-sausage-and.html). And Fox, in his characteristic way, just said, "It was good."