I have 1/2 lb. of cooked Italian sausage (links) I'd like to use up. I was
thinking a tomato soup with perhaps some rice added. I'd cut the sausage
into chunks; it's mild sausage but has a nice fennel taste. Here's what I
have on hand (aside from the sausage):

3 cans stewed tomatoes
3 cans tomato sauce
various herbs/spices - oregano, basil, marjoram
cooked rice (in the freezer)
onion powder (sorry no real onion)
garlic

Would you use the tomato sauce or the stewed tomatoes or a combination
thereof? And in what quantities for say, 4 bowls of soup? Sorry, I have no
stock or broth but I have a little beef soup base in the fridge. No celery,
either, dammit. Oh, but I do have frozen spinach. Water, of course, I
have. Your thoughts? Or should I ditch the idea completely?

Jill
--
I used to have a handle on life...but it broke off.

Jill and Michael collaborated:

>> Hmmm...I would brown the sausage
>
> It's already been browned; this is leftover from a meal the other day.
> However I can certainly throw it back in the bottom of the soup pot to
> brown a tad more
>
> and deglaze the pan with a bit of the
>> dissolved, diluted soup base.
>
> Oh, I have some red wine in the cupboard; I could deglaze with that then
> add the diluted soup base.
>
>> I'd use 2 cans of stewed tomatoes with
>> the juice and 1 can of tomato sauce. Season to taste.
>
> Think I'll even use that nifty whizzer gadget to puree the stewed tomatoes
> before I add to the pot.
>
>> Keep an eye on it and add water to thin the tomato sauce if needed. Add
>> the cooked rice the last few minutes and add more diluted soup base if
>> needed. This is a fly by the seat of your whisk momemt but I would go
>> ahead with it.
>>
>> Michael
>
> Thanks, Michael. Sounds like a plan to me!

Do you have an Parmesan cheese or beans? A can of white beans would add heft
to the soup, and Parmesan seems like it would complement the soup nicely. Or
you could make Parmesan-garlic croutons to float on top if you want to go
the extra mile. Do the tomatoes have basil in them, or are they "pure"? If
they're unseasoned, you can add any number of herbs to the soup if you feel
like it.

(Of course, this post is probably being sent too late to do any good!)

Bob

Bob wrote:
> Jill and Michael collaborated:
>
>>> Hmmm...I would brown the sausage
>>
>>> Keep an eye on it and add water to thin the tomato sauce if needed.
>>> Add the cooked rice the last few minutes and add more diluted soup
>>> base if needed. This is a fly by the seat of your whisk momemt but
>>> I would go ahead with it.
>>>
>>> Michael
>>
>> Thanks, Michael. Sounds like a plan to me!
>
> Do you have an Parmesan cheese or beans? A can of white beans would
> add heft to the soup, and Parmesan seems like it would complement the
> soup nicely.

I don't have any cooked white beans although I agree that would be a good
choice for next time. (This time I'm adding already cooked rice.) Oh and
darnit, I don't have Parm but I could grate some white cheddar on top...
we'll see

Do the tomatoes have basil in
> them, or are they "pure"?

Plain ol' maters. In fact, rather than using the stewed I used canned whole
tomatoes and tomato sauce. Mashed them up in the pan and added some of the
diluted beef base and the sauce. Seasoned with black pepper (and a couple
of dashes of hot sauce!), oregano and basil. It's still simmering on low;
like a tomato sauce (granted, from canned) it needs time to blend the
flavours. I haven't added the rice yet; will do that at the very end. I
will be tasting and adjusting seasonings and eat a bowl of this tomorrow.
(I'm sticking to my resolution not to eat after 8:00 PM.) I'll report back.

Jill
>
> Bob

jmcquown wrote:
> Bob wrote:
>> Jill and Michael collaborated:
>>
>>>> Hmmm...I would brown the sausage
>>>
>>>> Keep an eye on it and add water to thin the tomato sauce if needed.
>>>> Add the cooked rice the last few minutes and add more diluted soup
>>>> base if needed. This is a fly by the seat of your whisk momemt but
>>>> I would go ahead with it.
>>>>
>>>> Michael
>>>
>>> Thanks, Michael. Sounds like a plan to me!
>>
>> Do you have an Parmesan cheese or beans? A can of white beans would
>> add heft to the soup, and Parmesan seems like it would complement the
>> soup nicely.
>
> I don't have any cooked white beans although I agree that would be a
> good choice for next time. (This time I'm adding already cooked
> rice.) Oh and darnit, I don't have Parm but I could grate some white
> cheddar on top... we'll see
>
> Do the tomatoes have basil in
>> them, or are they "pure"?
>
> Plain ol' maters. In fact, rather than using the stewed I used
> canned whole tomatoes and tomato sauce. Mashed them up in the pan
> and added some of the diluted beef base and the sauce. Seasoned with
> black pepper (and a couple of dashes of hot sauce!), oregano and
> basil. It's still simmering on low; like a tomato sauce (granted,
> from canned) it needs time to blend the flavours. I haven't added
> the rice yet; will do that at the very end. I will be tasting and
> adjusting seasonings and eat a bowl of this tomorrow. (I'm sticking
> to my resolution not to eat after 8:00 PM.) I'll report back.
>
> Jill
>>
>> Bob

Absolutely delicious! I'll definitely do it again. The whole tomatoes
cooked down and were nice and soft. Just a splash of red wine after further
browning the already cooked Italian sausage. I put in lots of minced
garlic, added a little salt after tasting it (although I prefer to add salt
at the table, it needed some). Black pepper, oregano, basil and I think
next time I might throw a bay leaf in there. Couple of dashes of hot sauce.
Then I added about 1/2 cup of cooked rice (still frozen!) in the last 10
minutes or so. Grated (sorry, no Parm) some white cheddar on top. Yum! A
good "whatcha got in the pantry?" soup. Would probably be good even without
the Italian sausage, although without it I'd definitely add some fennel or
anise seed.

Jill