Sunday Slow Bake: Creamy Italian Vegetable Soup with Italian Sausage

We’ve had our first glorious taste of fall — a short precursor of highs in the 60s and 70s — even if the warm temperatures of early September in the South have returned with a vengeance. Even so, the signs of the shifting season are already here: cooler mornings, earlier sunsets, and, soon, the changing leaves. 

For me, fall is the perfect time for soups, stews and chili, so the first weekend that even suggested a touch of fall, I was in the kitchen cooking one up. I often use a recipe app called Mealime to find, plan and cook recipes developed by nutritionists, and my first soup of the season was a creamy Italian vegetable soup with Italian sausage. 

The recipe was pretty straightforward. Italian sausage (ground or casings removed) browned in a little oil, then removed from the pan. Chopped carrots, celery and onion cooked in the drippings, with a little garlic added right at the end. Then everything is combined with a can of petite diced tomatoes and broth, with a bit of heavy cream and seasonings added at the end, then topped with ribbons of fresh basil. 

Being me — and having a bunch of kale in the fridge for a recipe I’d decided not to make — I decided to add some of that in just to add a little more fiber (and not waste groceries). 

Here’s what I learned during the process of making my first soup of fall: 

• This recipe involved a lot of chopping. Nothing excessive, but carrots, celery, onion and garlic all had to be chopped and I chose to chiffonade the basil leaves. For me, all of that chopping is meditative. I find myself thinking about conversations I had throughout the week, praying for a loved one who feels far away from me and even musing over the days when the only thing we used kale for was to decorate salad bars.
  

• I think my immersion blender may be on its last legs. It’s had a great long life, so I guess it’s to be expected.

  
  

• I will 100% eat anything that has Italian sausage in it. It’s one of my favorite pizza toppings, I like to add it to lasagna sometimes, and it’s delicious in soups.
  

• This was the first time I’d made this recipe, and while there are a few things I’ll likely switch up next time (slightly less kale and potentially a little more seasoning) I will definitely be making it again. More than that, I can’t wait for fall to really and truly arrive so I can make more hearty and simple soups for dinner.

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Sunday Slow Bake is a time to unplug, disconnect and focus on one thing at a time. What will you learn when you unplug and disconnect? Tell us in the comments.