Poor Man's.Wedding Soup

Howdy folks!

I was looking through a cookbook I'll be reviewing this week from Martha Stewart about one pot dishes and I was inspired to make the dinner we had tonight because I realized we had none of the ingredients I thought we had on hand!  That's my luck of late.  It came out very tasty and was a jumble of things I did have hanging out in my pantry.  Here is the recipe - if you like the Zuppe Tuscana from the Olive Garden or you just dig Italian wedding soup you'll probably find this to your liking!  The best thing is it was all made in one pot so cleanup was easy.

Poor Man's Wedding Soup

1 Tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 cup diced onions
1/2 jar (about 4 oz.) marinated mushrooms
1 pound Italian sausage, crumbled
2 pinches black pepper
6 cups water
Four chicken bouillon cubes
1 cup milk
1 large can of new potatoes
A pinch of Mrs. Dash seasoning
1 1/2 cups acini de pepe or other small pasta
3/4 frozen block of cut spinach
Salt to taste
Garlic Croutons
Parmesan cheese

Saute onions in olive oil until glassy (about 6 minutes).  Add mushrooms and cook an additional 2 minutes.  Crumble Italian sausage over onions and mushrooms, allow to brown, pour off excess fat before adding some of the marinade liquid from mushrooms and black pepper.  Add 4 cups of hot water and bouillon cubes, stir well until cubes are dissolved.  Bring to a boil.  Add 1 cup milk and two additional cups of hot water.  Turn down heat and allow to simmer while preparing potatoes.  Drain water from potatoes into pot, dice potatoes and add these as well.  Add Mrs. Dash (shake generously over potatoes before adding if desired.) Stir well and allow to simmer, covered for at least 7-8 minutes.  Stir in uncooked pasta and return to medium heat for 8 minutes, stirring every few minutes.  Check pasta for tenderness, if nearly done, add thawed frozen spinach and stir well.  Taste after 5 minutes to adjust seasoning.  Serve topped with garlic croutons and grated parmesan cheese.

Yum!