Red Pepper and Tomato Minestrone

I got back in the kitchen at the start of this week and cooked up something decidedly tasty. I'm pretty adventurous in the kitchen, well, as adventurous as I can be. This should help explain that a tiny bit.

I have to be careful what I put in my body, but, I love food and I love trying new recipes and even creating a few of my own. That's exactly what I have to share today, a recipe of my own.

On monday, my mom headed to the grocery store and asked me to make dinner. The cabinets and refrigerator were more than a little bare. I rummaged through said cabinets and refrigerator and came out with four random ingredients to make a dinner meal with. Challenge accepted. 

Red Pepper and Tomato Minestrone 

You will need

1 container of Red Pepper and Tomato soup

1 box of pasta (your choice)

1 cup of Pecorino Romano cheese ( finely grated)

1 package of mild Italian Chicken Sausage

Add-ins

1tsp. Salt & Pepper (each)

1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder

1 tsp. Onion Powder

1 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

Dried Parsely

Grate one to one and a half cups of the Pecorino Romano cheese and set aside.

Slice the sausages lengthwise and pop the meat out of the casings. Break the meat up into bite size pieces. In a large pot, brown the Chicken Sausage with the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and red pepper flakes. 

Add a fourth of a cup (1/4 c.) of the red pepper and tomato soup (shake it well first). 

Let reduce into the meat.

Add the rest of the soup and reduce heat to low. Let simmer for ten to fifteen minutes.

If the flavor is too strong or you want to thin out the soup a bit, add a little chicken stock.

While the soup simmers, cook the pasta according to box. Quinoa pasta has a slightly shorter cook time  than your regular pastas. Drain and season to taste with butter/margarine, salt, and pepper.

And that's it!

Serve the pasta in a pretty little bowl, topped with your red pepper and tomato soup + sausage. Add a hearty sprinkling of the grated Pecorino Romano cheese, and a dash of the dried Parsely.

This is so easy to make and it really is packed with flavor.

A few things..

If you like things spicy go ahead and add a healthy dash of chili powder to kick it up a little more. 

If you're sensitive to heat, add a good drizzle of agave nectar to take the edge off.

You can also add some veggies to this to give it more texture and add even more depth of flavor.

I would also like to put it out there that the definition of a Minestrone is - A thick soup containing vegetables and pasta. This recipe definitely does not fit that description. Honestly, I do not know what else to call it though. So..  Minestrone it is! 

Have fun cooking and happy eating, friends!

                                          P.S. Linking up this post on the Weekend Potluck linkup!