Portuguese Sausage Soup

I decided to make this Portuguese Sausage Soup from the Heritage of America Cookbook not only because my mom had marked it as something she wanted to make but also because it seemed pretty quick and simple to make. Which it was. Came home after work, threw this in the pot and had dinner on the table in half an hour. Though the recipe said that this made six side servings, Mr. L and I had it as a filling dinner with some leftover for lunch the next day. And we might have added a bit of fresh shaved Parmesan on top even though it wasn't called for, because we are cheese people.

Mr. L really liked the soup as did I. Simple flavors. Easy to make. The Portuguese Sausage Soup was a great meal to serve on a blustery day. Since this only calls for 1/2 cup of beer there was plenty of beer left over for Mr. L to drink with his soup. He was very happy about that.

The blurb about the recipe says it comes from Massachusetts and  "Portuguese fisherman and sailors settled in New England coastal towns like New Bedford, Massachusetts, before the Civil War. They brought with them their spicy Iberian cuisine. Sausage soup is one of the best known of these recipes".

PORTUGUESE SAUSAGE SOUP

4 ounces hot Italian sausage links, sliced 1/4 inch thick
4 ounces sweet Italian sausage links, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach
1/2 cup beer or water
1/4 teaspoon pepper

In a large saucepan cook the hot sausage, sweet sausage, and onion till sausage is browned and onion is tender. Drain fat. Add the potatoes, the chicken or vegetable broth, spinach, beer or water, and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes or till potatoes are tender. Makes 6 side dish servings at 163 calories each.

Note: I used fresh ground hot and sweet Italian sausage. I broke the pieces up while cooking but tried to leave a few "chunks". I think using the ground sausage made this dish a bit greasier but I did try to remove as much grease as I could.

Note: I used beer instead of water. I used chicken broth.

Note: I cut the potatoes more into chunks than slices.

Quick. Easy. Good.

Comments

[MOM]

Oh, that looks and sounds so good. I would pour it over rice. I might even change the spinach and use bok choy.

[Deborah]

I love a recipe that comes together that quickly. It sounds like a delicious, filling soup!

[Mrs. L]

Mom - I think bok choy or even kale would be a wonderful substitution.

Deborah - I'm all about quick meals on days I go to the gym (to work off all the not so healthy quick meals :)

[foodhoe]

mmm that looks delicious, but I especially like the quick, easy good comment - that's my cooking mantra!