Orzo Sausage Soup

Orzo Sausage Soup
Adapted from: The Kitchen Girl and Gimme Some Oven









Ingredients:

1/2 lb. Pork Sausage [not breakfast sausage]
2 tablespoons oil
1 small white onion, peeled and diced
3 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
6 cups chicken stock
1 (14-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1  Orzo pasta
1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp salt

Black pepper to taste
4 cups loosely packed spinach
salt and black pepper
optional toppings: freshly-grated Parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper flakes

Instructions:
Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute for 4 minutes, until soft. Add carrots, celery and garlic and saute for an additional 3 minutes. Add chicken stock, tomatoes, orzo (pasta), thyme, oregano, rosemary and stir to combine. Bring soup to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente.


INSTRUCTIONS

Heat a 4-quart soup pot on medium-high. Add SAUSAGE to the pot, breaking it into small pieces; brown the sausage, stirring as needed; transfer to a plate; set aside. Carefully drain the extra grease, if needed.
To the same heated skillet, add ONION, GARLIC, and CELERY; sauté until fragrant and tender, stirring as needed (3-4 min). Add dry ORZO; sauté until toasted and fragrant (about 2-3 min); stirring as needed.
Add CHICKEN BROTH, DICED TOMATOES with their juice, ITALIAN SEASONING, SALT, PEPPER, and BROWNED SAUSAGE.

Bring soup just to boil; then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until orzo is cooked to your liking (10-15 min).

Stir in the SPINACH and cook for 1-2 minutes until it is bright green and wilted. Taste, and season with salt and black pepper as needed. 

Serve warm, garnished with your desired toppings.

(Instant Pot) 

Instant Pot Instructions for Italian Sausage Soup
Select "Sauté" on the Instant Pot.
When the display reads "Hot", add sausage, separating it and stirring as needed until fully browned. Transfer sausage to a plate and set aside. You can drain the sausage fat from the Instant Pot into a heat-safe container or use it to saute the veggies.
Continue with the "saute" function on the Instant Pot. Utilize the sausage fat or heat a small amount of OLIVE OIL; then add ONION, CELERY, and GARLIC to the Instant Pot and saute until tender, stirring as needed (about 3 minutes).
Add DRY ORZO, CHICKEN BROTH, DICED TOMATOES with their juice, ITALIAN SEASONING; SALT, PEPPER, and BROWNED SAUSAGE.
Press the "Cancel" function on the Instant Pot.
Secure the lid and turn the pressure release valve to the "Sealing" position.
Select "Manual" and set the Instant Pot on Manual +1 minute high pressure (use +2 minutes if using whole wheat orzo).
When the cycle is complete, a Quick Pressure Release (QPR) is needed to depressurize the cooker and prevent overcooking the orzo pasta.
This is done by turning the pressure release valve from "sealing" to "venting" position, using an oven mitt for protection.

Allow the cooker to fully release all of the pressure until the 'float valve' drops before attempting to open the lid. This process can take several minutes. The cooker automatically goes into "Keep Warm" mode until you shut it off.

Stir in the SPINACH and cook for 1-2 minutes until it is bright green and wilted. Taste, and season with salt and black pepper as needed.