Recipe from Melissa Ogarths of West Springfield, Mass.
Prep Time: 10 min
Total Time: 2 hr 10 min
3 c fresh spinach
1 lb sweet Italian chicken sausage
1 c diced fresh tomatoes
1 large can chicken broth
1 c rice
fresh sage to taste
1. Remove the sausage from the casing and brown, chopping finely while browning. Open the can of chicken broth and empty into a stew pot. A crock pot works nicely too, if you are going to be gone for the day. Put the sausage into the broth and put the pot on low to simmer.
2. Wash the spinach and tear up into small pieces, removing the stems before you put it in the pot. Dice the tomatoes and put them in the broth. Put the whole leaf fresh sage in the soup, using as much or as little as you like. For just a hint of sage flavor, I generally use 4 or 5 leaves.
3. Let simmer for approximately 2 hours on low. Turn the heat up. Once you get it to a rolling boil, add the uncooked rice to the soup. Feel free to add more or less, as you see fit, bearing in mind that it quickly swells and could easily become a casserole, rather than soup, if you are not careful. Once the rice is cooked, the soup is ready!
Yield: 12-16 servings
Enjoy! Tastes just like a certain-famous-restaurant's popular recipe!
