Italian Tomato & Sausage Soup

I had some chicken sausage & an onion in my kitchen that needed to be used this morning so I decided to come up with a soup to make for lunch. It seemed like a perfect comfort meal on this cold Saturday. So I raided my kitchen & put together some ingredients & this is what I came up with. Justin & I both loved it & thankfully it made plenty to enjoy for a few more days.

INGREDIENTS:
- 1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium white onion, chopped
- 5 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 Package of Johnsonville chicken sausage Italian style with cheese, chopped into bite-size pieces
- 3oz Flat Baby Spinach, chopped (half a bag)
- 28oz can of diced tomato with Italian seasoning with juices
- 32oz low-sodium chicken broth
- 1tsp oregano
- 1tsp basil
- 2tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1c uncooked Ditalini Pasta
- Grated Parmesan cheese

HOW-TO:
Heat oil in a dutch over or large pot over medium heat. Add onion & garlic & saute for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add sausage & cook until browned & heated through, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. Add the spinach, diced tomato, chicken broth, oregano, basil, and crushed red pepper. Cover and cook over med-low heat for 30 minutes.

In the mean time, cook pasta according to package. Once the soup has cooked for 30 minutes, add the cooked pasta. Serve with a garnish of grated Parmesan cheese, about 2 tsp.

TIPS:
- This soup has a lot of sodium because it uses chicken sausage. To reduce the sodium, swap the chicken sausage for diced chicken breasts.
- This is a little spicy, if you don't like spicy foods, cut the red pepper flakes in half or skip them all together.

Nutritional Facts per Serving (recipe yields 8 servings - appx 1.5c per serving):
Calories: 215
Fat: 10g
Sodium: 840mg
Carbs: 17g
Protein: 13g