Italian sausage soup

Italian Sausage Braising in Beer by wickenden, on Flickr

I've not been posting here for two reasons; first, I'm no longer on GAPS, except in the sense that transitioning off GAPS is a move towards regular Traditional Food. And second, I've just been busy and distracted.

However, I made up a batch of Italian sausage soup today, and thought it was worth sharing the recipe since it is legal on full GAPS, assuming you use a legal Italian sausage.

Alternatively, you can mix up a legal sausage yourself. Sweet or mild Italian sausage is ground pork, fennel and salt and pepper. If your pork is lean, you could fry this up in lard or coconut oil. If you prefer hot Italian sausage, it's the same ingredients with some crushed red pepper added.

The soup itself is adapted from a recipe I originally got off the alt.support.diet.low-carb Usenet group many years ago. Basically, it is cooking several pounds of vegetables in such a manner that it all is flavored yummily with Italian sausage. It's been one of my absolute favorites for years.

This makes a BIG batch of soup. Sometimes, I make this on a weekend and just eat it all week, other times I can or freeze it for a bunch of meals. Today, when it's done simmering, I will freeze in pints.

ingredients

• 1/4 cup coconut oil or lard
• 3 lb Italian sausage (if in casing, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 4 yellow, orange or red bell peppers, diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• 2 quarts bone broth (chicken or beef)
• quart of home-canned tomatoes or 28 oz size can of store-bought diced tomatoes
• 1 lb fresh or frozen broccoli & cauliflower mix, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 lb fresh or frozen summer squash &zucchini mix, sliced
• 1 lb fresh or frozen greens (spinach, mustard greens, turnip greens, rapini, Swiss chard, kale, etc.) OR 1 1/4 cup dehydrated greens
• 1 TB fresh basil, minced (or 1 tsp dried)
• 1 TB fresh oregano, minced (or 1 tsp dried)
• 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp Concentrace (optional)
• 15 drops vitamin K2 (optional)
• 15 drops vitamin D (optional)
• Parmesan for serving

method

This is 10 large quart-sized servings, if you eat it alone as a meal; if you're eating it with a side of fruit or such, a pint is a decent serving and thus it makes 20 servings. Either way, it's a BIG batch of soup!

1. If you want to can or freeze: measure 10 quarts water in a small stockpot and note where the water comes up to (or use a wooden spoon and mark the handle how far the water comes up). Then dump out the water!
2. Melt 1-2 TB coconut oil or lard over medium heat and fry the sausage in batches, removing to stockpot with a slotted spoon as it's browned (it doesn't need to cook through, just brown well).
3. Fry peppers and onions in batches, adding additional oil as needed, then remove to stockpot also. Cook the garlic with the last batch of vegetables.
4. Add broth, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, summer squash, zucchini, greens, basil and oregano to stockpot. Add water to make 10 quarts, if desired. Bring to boil over medium heat, then cover and lower heat to simmer.
5. Allow to simmer for at least 4 hours to fully mix flavors.
6. Remove from heat and stir in olive oil and Supplement drops, if using.
7. Serve topped with Parmesan.

pressure canning instructions

• If canning, the soup only needs to cook for 2 hours as it will finish cooking during processing.
• Do not add olive oil before canning (though adding the supplements is OK).
• Pack hot soup into hot jars, adjust two-piece lids, load canner and bring to 11 pounds pressure at sea level (adjust for your altitude).
• Pints need 75 minutes and quarts need 90 minutes at full pressure.
• After cooling, check lids, label and store.
• When serving, after reheating soup, drizzle on olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan.