Italian Wedding Soup

Have you ever had this soup?  Meatballs in soup... yum.  Making it though, is a problem for me.  We all know that I am a lazy cook.  I like to get things on the table in a timely manner.  If I have time over a weekend, I'll gladly make a huge batch of meatballs and freeze them.  This way, I can make certain they're gluten and dairy free for my family, and then we can use them in meatball subs, spaghetti, and soup.

However, I was not really in a spot where I could make a huge batch of meatballs.  I wanted to get a quick, tasty soup that would feed a crowd on the table.  I took some shortcuts.  I didn't make the meatballs.  Since I didn't make the meatballs, I don't know if I can actually call this Italian Wedding Soup.  There's no pasta in this soup, either.  Like I said, it was a quick and easy dinner for a crowd.
But gosh, it was really good!

Italian Soup

Ingredients:
1 pound Italian Sausage
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp basil
4 carrots - peeled and cut into chunks
4 stalks celery - sliced
1 onion - diced
4-5 cloves of garlic - diced
32 ounces of chicken broth (Or use enough broth or bullion cubes to equal 32 ounces of broth.  8 broth cubes or 4 bullion cubes)
32 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
16 ounce an of cannellini beans
1 1/2 tsp. Balsamic Vinegar
1 large bag of spinach, rinsed



In a dutch oven, brown the sausage, breaking up the large chunks of sausage as you go.  Add the oregano and basil while the sausage is browning.  Remove sausage from heat and drain on a plate covered with a paper towel while the rest is cooking.

In the pan, cook with a drizzle of olive oil the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic until the veggies are soft.

Once the veggies are soft, add the chicken broth, tomatoes, beans and Balsamic Vinegar.

Bring to a boil, and then let simmer for 15 minutes.

While the broth is simmering, roughly chop the bag of spinach.

At the end of 15 minutes, add the spinach and the reserved meat/spice mixture.  Heat until the spinach wilts, about 5 minutes.

Serve immediately.