Tomato-Chicken Soup with Chick Peas and Chicken Sausage - 8/7/11

I made soup today with chicken stock, chick peas, fire roasted tomatoes, feta and spinach chicken sausage, and a sofrito of onion, carrot, and sweet bell pepper.  Some fresh parsley.  It was okay.  No umami there, in my opinion, but sometimes my tastebuds get wonky.  I even forgot to take a picture.  Some cooking blog.

I'm in some shape.  There was exactly one egg in the house, and I ate it.  With cheese.  I never run out of eggs.  This is all because I did not step outside this house today, not even to duck into Publix.  Instead I sat with my knitting and watched most of the entire first season of Torchwood.

Here is the recipe, which is probably better than I am making it out to be.  Rob and Cory enjoyed it, and it takes under 30 minutes to prepare, and another 30 to simmer everything together.

1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 red or yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped
2 chicken sausage links, halved and sliced
1 pound can chick peas, drained
1 pound can diced fire-roasted tomatoes, drained
6 cups of chicken stock

Coat the bottom of a sauce pan with some olive oil.  Heat, then add the onion, carrot, pepper, and garlic.  Season with kosher salt and black pepper and a pinch of sugar.  Saute a few minutes, then add the parsley and sausage.  Continue to cook on medium low heat until the vegetables are soft and lightly browned.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. 

This is a light, brothy soup, so if you like a little more body, add more sausage, or some cooked pasta, like a small shell shape.  Or croutons, I'm a sucker for croutons in my soup.  You can also sprinkle some parmesan cheese over the top of each serving.  Tasty.

Since I forgot to take a picture of the finished dish, I offer instead a picture of my knitting.  Yes, it is a new project - actually, it's the second part to an existing project.  When it's all done, I'm sure it will make perfect sense.