Cozy Ski Soup

Welcome back from the weekend...hope it was wonderful and I know we are all thrilled that warmer weather is on the way.  

I'm as excited as anyone for the roads to clear and snow to melt, soccer and biking season are right around the corner.  

Although, I just can't pass up this opportunity to share with you the awesome soup recipe that we enjoyed on our annual family ski trip this past weekend. 

Here's my gang on the slopes!

We should really try to put a number before that 'annual', but the number of years escapes us, especially as it evolves...how do you put a number on it? 

I've been skiing since I was 5 or 6, so does that make it the 30th annual ski trip? But, my dad, sisters and brother have been skiing longer than that.  

Our new tradition of staying trail side started when my 20 year old niece was 1, so is it the 19th?

You get the point, we've been doing this for a long time and as traditions go, something change and some things stay the same.  

Same = trail side lodging, different = new condo. 

Same = 3 generations of family, different = less people

Same= soup,  different = Cozy Ski Soup

One of my goals for the near future is to start an album with all pictures of the family ski trip, through the years.  After this many years, the details get all jumbled together.  I'll let you know how that goes. 

Anyway, on to the soup.  

Started by browning 1 lb of Italian sausage, upon completion, set aside on paper towel to drain, wipe out excess any grease from the soup pot, but leave a little behind to sautee the veggies in.  

Chop and toss 1 medium onion, 3 stalks of celery (I included the leafy parts too), a cup of shredded carrots and 1 zucchini into the pan for some preliminary cooking.  Cook until soft. 

Then added the broth, which was primarily Chicken Stock (4 cups), but also used up the 1 cup tomato juice and 2 cups of beef stock that were in the fridge, just begging to be used!

I am always conservative with liquids when starting soup.  More stock/broth/water can always be later or added just prior to serving, but it is much harder to remove. 

Next, I added 1 bag of frozen corn and frozen green beans.  I generally preferred frozen to canned, the texture of the corn and beans holds up much better from frozen than can and I'm a huge texture person. Two can of diced tomatoes would also be added at this point, but since I they were temporarily out of stock in my pantry, I had to wait to add them until just before serving. 

Last ingredient to make this a hearty and cozy soup is 1 lb of pasta. After boiling for about 10 minutes the pasta was cooked and ready to be served.

Since I made this in advance of our ski trip…didn't want to miss time on the slopes having to cook. So, I froze the soup and re-heated it for serving.  That worked out perfectly!

In addition to the diced tomatoes, I also added some more water and bouillon, as it was a little more like goulash than soup.  That is a personal preference to be adjusted accordingly.

The family was thrilled with this new soup, it definitely hit the spot for the occasion.


Cozy Ski Soup

Ingredients
1 lb of Italian sausage
1 medium onion
3 stalks of celery (I included the leafy parts too)
1 cup of shredded carrots
1 zucchini 
8 cups of Chicken Stock (or other broth type ingredients - tomato juice, vegetable or beef stock)
1 bag of frozen corn
1 bag of frozen green beans
2 cans of diced tomatoes
1 lb of small pasta 

Cook the sausage in soup pot. Drain on paper towel. Remove excess grease.
Saute onion, celery and carrots in pan.
Add stock/broth ingredients.
While bringing to a boil, add frozen corn, beans and diced tomatoes.
Finally, boil pasta for 10 minutes.

Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.