Italian Sub Soup

Where has the time gone?  It's been over a month since my last blog post.  I didn't realize I was that busy and it must not go this long again.

M and I went on our cruise and long story short, eh, not that great.  Food was terrible (major fail) and there was a boat load (get it? I'm a dork) of kids on the ship.  Not as relaxing as we hoped and we did not swim with dolphins. :(  But we jet skied and that was really fun.  We were very glad to get home.  We did see some great sunrises though.

Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean

Then we were busy with work and Thanksgiving.  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  Ours was busy but very nice.  Lots and lots of eating with family.  Those are great times.  And now Christmas is right around the corner and it is my favorite holiday.  My Christmas tree went up the weekend after Thanksgiving and it makes me so happy.  Isn't she pretty?

I couldn't wait to get home from our cruise and start cooking especially with the quality of the food we got on the ship.  I made some good dishes but nothing really great - until this soup.  I actually made this soup a few years ago and pulled it out again.  I think it was better this time around.  So warm on the cold days we're beginning to have here in New England.  No snow yet  but it's coming.  No doubt.  This soup is perfect on one of those days.

It calls for Italian sausage but M and I don't care for the fennel seed that's typically in that so we used andouille instead.  It also called to cook the pasta directly in the soup but knowing that we were going to have leftovers, I chose to cook the pasta separately and ladle the soup over the pasta in our bowls.  This way, the pasta didn't get mushy and absorb all the broth the next day.

I will try and try my best to post again soon.  Here's hoping for some tasty dishes.  With Christmas coming soon, there should be some good material.

Italian Sub Soup
Adapted from 365: No Repeats by Rachael Ray

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 links andouille sausage, diced
1/2 stick of pepperoni, diced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
1 28 can diced tomatoes or whole tomatoes, broken up with a wooden spoon
salt and pepper
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup short cut pasta, I used small shells
2-3 handfuls of baby arugula
grated parmesan cheese

Preheat a soup pot over medium high heat.  Add the olive oil and andouille sausage and cook until it begins to brown.  Add the pepperoni and cook for about 2 minutes.  Add the green pepper and onion and cook for about 2-3 minutes more.  Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.  Add the chicken stock and let the soup simmer.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions (or a little less since it will go into hot soup).

Stir the arugula into the soup.  Put some pasta into your soup bowl and ladle the soup over it.  Sprinkle with grated cheese.  Serve immediately.

Note: Absolutely delicious the next day.