Italian Sausage and Orzo Soup

This Spicy Italian Sausage with Orzo has rich tomato flavor, delicious and takes only 20 minutes to make. Make it on the stove top or in a crock pot for a perfect family dinner.

Ingredients:
500 grams Mild Italian Sausage
1 cup Orzo Pasta
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 small Onion, diced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 28 Oz Crushed Tomato
2 t Italian Seasoning
½ t red chili Flakes (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
4-6 cups Chicken Broth
2 cups Spinach (Tightly Packed)
¼ cup Half and Half
½ cup Parmesan Cheese (to serve)

Instructions:
Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan. Once warm, add diced onion, and garlic. Saute until the onion has softened, and raw garlic smell is gone. Roughly break sausages to small chunks. Add to the pan. Saute for 5-6 minutes until they are browned, and aromatic. Break down any bigger chunks of sausage. Deglaze the pot by adding stocks. Scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any brown bits. Stir in the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, chili flakes, salt and pepper. When the stock comes to a boil stir in orzo pasta, cover and let it cook for 8-10 minutes in the medium-low heat until orzo is almost cooked. Stir in between to prevent orzo from getting stuck at the bottom. Stir in spinach to the pot and let it cook for 2 minutes. Switch off the heat. Stir in half and half and mix well. Serve with a generous topping of Parmesan cheese.

How to make in the Crockpot:
While it is always easy and quick to make things on the stove top, Slow cooking comes in handy when you don’t want active involvement. This Italian Sausage Orzo Soup can easily be made in a crock pot. It can’t be a total dump-and-forget kind of recipe. Browning of onion, garlic, and sausage is an essential step to release all the flavors. So before adding all the ingredients to the slow cooker, it is important to brown in a pan.
Once the meat is browned, add the onion, garlic, and sausage Mixture to the Crockpot and the other ingredients (except spinach, cream, and cheese). Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours. 20 minutes before the cooking time ends, add spinach to the pot. After 10 minutes, add cream and cheese to the pot.

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