Sausage Pasta Fagioli With Spinach

This recipe is credited to GoodHousekeeping.com

Fall is officially underway, which means soups and stews will soon be back in rotation. This chunky and flavorful soup is a go-to in our house, and I love that it offers a twist on a classic. Here’s how to make it!

PREP: 15 minutes plus overnight to soak beans
COOK: 1½ hours

Ingredients

• 1 pound sweet Italian-sausage links, casings removed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 medium-size onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed with garlic press
• 1 28-ounce can plum tomatoes in juice
• 1¾- to 1¼-ounce cans chicken broth
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 6 ounces dried ditalini or tubetti pasta
• ½ 10-ounce bag spinach, tough stems removed and leaves cut into 1-inch-wide strips
• Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
• 1½ cups dry Great Northern beans*

Instructions

1. Rinse beans with running cold water and discard any stones or shriveled beans. In large bowl, place dry beans and 8 cups water. Allow to stand at room temperature overnight. (Or, in 4-quart saucepan over high heat, heat beans and 8 cups water to boiling; cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 1 hour.) Drain and rinse beans.
2. In 4-quart saucepan over high heat, heat beans and enough water to cover by 2 inches to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 40 minutes to 1 hour until beans are tender, stirring occasionally. Drain beans.
3. Heat 5-quart Dutch oven or saucepot over medium-high heat until hot. Add sausage and cook until browned, breaking up meat with spoon. With slotted spoon, remove sausage meat to bowl.
4. Reduce heat to medium. In drippings and olive oil, cook onions until tender and golden, about 10 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes with their juice, using spoon to break up tomatoes.
5. Add chicken broth, salt, beans, and 2 cups water; over high heat, heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 30 minutes. Add sausage meat; heat through.
6. Meanwhile, in 3-quart saucepan, cook pasta as label directs, but do not add salt to water. Drain pasta; set aside.
7. Just before serving, stir in spinach and cooked pasta. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese, if you like. Makes about 10 cups or 16 servings.

*Or, you can substitute canned beans for dry beans called for in recipe and omit steps 1 and 2 above. Prepare recipe as in steps 3 and 4, but in step 5, omit the salt and simmer soup 15 minutes before adding three 15- to 19-ounce cans Great Northern or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained. Heat to boiling, then simmer 15 minutes longer. Add sausage meat; heat through. Complete recipe as in steps 6 and 7.