Italian Sausage Soup

This is one of my italian sausage soups that I make, this one having a hint of sweetness due to the brown sugar. You can control the spiciness depending on which sausage you decide to use. When adding the tomatoes, if you do not prefer large pieces as we don’t, I will drain the juice into the pot first, then chop up the tomatoes before adding them. If you’re not sure what “deglaze” means, it is when you have cooked meat or vegetables and there is brown bits on the bottom of the pan(this is flavor goodness), and you add wine or stock and scrape the bottom of the pan which gathers up all that flavor to add to your sauce. This is a chunky, hearty, quick and easy soup to prepare; great for any weeknight supper. Enjoy!

1 lb. bulk Italian sausage
3/4 C. julienned green, sweet red
and/or yellow pepper
1/4 C. chopped onion
1/4 C. white wine or chicken stock
1 can(14 oz) Italian stewed tomatoes
1 can(8 oz) tomato sauce
1 C. frozen Italian vegetables
1 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. minced fresh parsley
1/4 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

In a large saucepan, cook sausage until no longer pink. Drain if needed. Add the peppers, and onions and cook for a couple of minutes. Deglaze the pan with either the white wine or chicken stock; cook for a minute. Combine the remaining ingredients with the sausage, peppers and onions. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.