I’d like to take a second to introduce my new blog! Food n’ Focus was created as an outlet for me to share me love of cooking and trying new recipes along with my passion for photography. With life being as busy as it is, I figured this would be a great way for me to take photos more often and work on my skills. So without further adieu!
I try to keep it healthy when I’m cooking and found this lightened up version of a Paula Deen recipe on her sons’ website, Deen Bros. I love Italian food so I figured I’d give this a try.
You start by adding the olive oil to the pan and browning the sausage along with the onion, pepper and garlic. The recipe calls for a green pepper, however, I prefer the sweeter taste of red peppers.
Once this was all browned and sauteed, you add in the chicken broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, salt and crushed red pepper. I also added an Italian seasoning blend for additional flavor. Simmer this for 20 minutes or so and the soup will begin to thicken. After you simmer the soup, bring it up to a boil and add the noodles. I actually used 4 oz. of farfalle noodles instead of the broken lasagna noodles, but it’s your choice.
After about 10-12 minutes the noodles should be done and you’ll remove from the heat, adding in the basil, Parmesan and mozzarella. I had some Italian bread laying around which I tossed with olive oil and some seasonings and toasted for a crouton topping.
Once the soup was finished, I topped it with some fresh basil, Parmesan and the croutons. Voila!
I thought that the flavor of this soup was incredible and it was very filling. While the process is a little bit tasky, I give the recipe a 10 out of 10.
I have actually tried this soup, it really is a 10 out of 10. I would say the hardest part of getting this right is the croutons. Adding the croutons is a must, if you try making this recipe and you have someone help you with making the croutons, make sure to give them credit because it’s the hardest part 😉 Nice photos!!
Haha! Recipe sounds great 🙂 how fun!!!! Shawn-did you help make the croutons? Good job! Lol
Hi Alyson – I made the croutons, April is paying me royalties for the use of the pictures of them. Congratulations on getting engaged, tell Matt I say hi.
April-
I had this soup for lunch today! It was delicious. I was a bit disappointed that someone ate all of the homemade croutons though….Shawn! But it was a great recipe and I will def. have to try this at home.
The recipes look great! I can’t wait till you start posting some authentic German dishes!