Sausage & Peppers Soup

Well, it’s officially fall tomorrow, which means that I’m allowed to talk soup with you all now.

Haha.

I’ve said this many times before, but I am a soup-all-the-time kind of person. It doesn’t need to be freezing or even chilly for me to love a bowl of hot, cozy soup. It might be my favorite type of meal, no matter the season.

Aside from cookies. Cookies totally count as a meal.

I held off this year, though, before talking about it too “soon.” People feel very strongly about when soups and stews should be discussed. “Don’t rush summer away,” they say. Or “I’m sweating just thinking about that dish.” I get it. I listened, guys!

And now you have to listen to ME go on and on about how amazing this sausage and peppers soup is. Because it is. And tomorrow kicks off the cooler season, officially. I’m allowed.

I was on the phone with my sister a couple of months ago while I was outlining my content calendar for the fall/holiday seasons, and I knew that I wanted to share a new soup recipe. Duh. Soup is the best.

But I was stumped. I have already shared sooooo many soup/stew recipes on my blog, and I felt like I was stumped to come up with something that either I myself hadn’t already done or everyone else on the internet hadn’t already done.

My sister and I were bouncing ideas off of one another, and then this one popped in my head. Sausage and peppers sandwiches are a classic. Why not deconstruct them into a lighter but still delicious and satisfying meal?

And that’s how this idea was born. My sister thought it was a great one. Turns out, she was right.

This soup is great for a number of reasons, but one of my favorites is how easily is comes together. Everything happens in one pot and there’s minimal effort involved. Making soups is a lot simpler than I think people realize. It’s really just a series of steps and simmering to allow the flavors to deepen and develop.

One of the many reasons I love soup so.

This one starts with sweet Italian sausage. You can use spicy, but I prefer sweet so that I can control the amount of spice in the end dish.

I cook the sausage until it is rendered and golden brown in a large pot. Then, we cook a ton of bell peppers, some onion, and some garlic in the sausage drippings. Lots of herbs and seasonings go into the pot to make the soup taste rich and complete.

Canned tomatoes, some broth, and a parmesan cheese rind are added to the mix. I’ve said this a bunch of times before, too, but always save your parmesan cheese rinds! They’re edible!

And when you add them to soups or sauces, they add a TON of umami richness and flavor that you just can’t get from anything else. Grated parmesan weirdly doesn’t have quite the same effect (although it is a decent substitute here if you don’t have a rind on hand). Save those rinds, people! They make a huge difference.

Everything simmers away together until the soup is slightly reduced and all the flavors have really gotten to be friends. The peppers taste of sausage and the broth tastes of tomatoes, peppers, and parmesan. YUM.

To echo the experience of an actual sausage and peppers soup, I like to serve this with some small mozzarella garlic toasts. Slices of baguette that are toasted until golden, rubbed down with fresh garlic, and then topped with gooey mozzarella. They are the PERFECT dunker for this soup.

I highly recommend that you don’t skip the mozzarella toasts. I always need something carby and crunchy on the side of my soup. It’s mandatory.

This soup is rich and light at the same time. Meaning, the flavor is wonderful and comforting (and it tastes like you’ve simmered it for hours), but you don’t feel completely weighed down and gross after eating it. Even with the toasts!

It’s the best of all worlds!

I’m so excited that this is my first soup recipe of the season. It’s a GOOD one.

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