Sunday Soup #132: Sausage Parmesan Cream Cheese Soup

Souping makes me happy, and you should always do what makes you happy, right? I mean, unless what makes you happy is being a jerk, in which case, make the world a kinder place instead and just make soup! :-)

And, if you need a good one, maybe give this yummy Italian selection a try? This was one of those soups that was solidly 4.5 stars (i.e., better than 4, but not quite 5), but I don't usually give half scores. So, since I could think of a couple of improvements, I scored it a 4 with room to get even better. Enjoy!

This recipe came from: https://www.eatwell101.com/sausage-parmesan-cream-cheese-soup-recipe

Variations from Recipe as Written: I doubled the recipe. I used Mild Italian sausage (instead of my usual Hot) because one of my diners is sensitive to spice. And, I used canned petite diced tomatoes rather than fresh Romas.

General Thoughts: The prep on this one was really easy! The only chopping was an onion, and my friend Lisa did that for me, so the rest was just adding things to the Instant Pop. It should be noted that this recipe does not make very much; I doubled it, but there was barely a serving leftover after feeding only six adults (who had plenty of other food - bread, salad, etc. - to eat, too). So, plan accordingly!

*Pics 1 & 2 - https://www.eatwell101.com/sausage-parmesan-cream-cheese-soup-recipe

The flavor of the soup was solid, and it reminded me of a pizza soup.  It was creamy and cheesy, with a zesty tomato sauce and sausage taste. But, while the soup came out almost silky, without the sausage there would have been very little texture variation. I recommend making some simple homemade croutons in the oven or skillet (for example, these tasty Pioneer Woman beauties: https://www.yummly.com/recipe/Homemade-Croutons-9111591?prm-v1) to give the soup a little crunch. All in all, though, it hit all the right flavor notes, and was even tastier as leftovers!

A loaf of good, quality sourdough bread was a very nice compliment to this soup, and making it into garlic bread would have been very tasty, indeed! Also, I want to give special mention of the Caprese salad Lisa made, which was perfect: fresh, piquant, and flavorful. If we are lucky, maybe she'll share the recipe in the comments? :-)

Potential Improvements? As I mentioned above, some croutons for texture would have been brilliant, and I'd prefer Hot sausage (rather than Mild). Finally, next time, I'd like to try dicing some fresh Roma tomatoes (nice firm ones!) instead of using the canned diced toms.

Polling the Fam: Everyone seemed to really enjoy this one, with only a couple of suggestions (primarily focused on how some crunchy croutons would help).

Verdict: Liked it. (4 stars)