Steve's Sausage Soup

I made this soup tonight and it was really good. Jacob got a Clean Bowl Award after finishing his serving. Janie ate two bowls and asked to take some to school tomorrow for lunch. Mark and I did our fair share of damage, too.

The recipe is from 2Peas, ~Lauren~ posted it. At some point I saw it referred to as Steve's Sausage Soup. So here it is... my changes in parentheses.

Steve's Sausage Soup

1/2 pound sausage (used 3/4 lb Johnsonville Hot Italian Sausage)
1 onion, chopped
1 2lb-3oz can of Italian tomatoes (used two reg cans diced Italian seasoned tomatoes)
2 13 3/4 cans chicken broth (used Rachel Ray's Chicken Stock In a Box, 32oz)
1 tsp crushed basil (used a touch of dried and some fresh)
1/2 cup orzo (used 3/4 cup DaVinci Stars pasta)
salt and pepper to taste (used a couple grinds of fresh black pepper, no salt)

Cook sausage and saute onions. Add tomatoes, broth, basil, salt and pepper, bring to a boil. Stir in orzo. Simmer 20 minutes - long enough to cook pasta.

I added 2 extra cups of chicken stock and used my hand held submersible blender to puree the tomatoes a bit.

I unintentionally caramelized the onions a bit before adding the stock and tomatoes... wow. That little bit of underlying sweetness mixed with the hot sausage was really nice.

Let me know if you try this and what you think. It's perfect for welcoming the cool temps.