Creamy Higher Protein Sausage and Ditalini Soup

This soup was easy to put together and my kids LOVED it! It's very hard to mess up, and you can customize it so it meets your needs! Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 lb mild italian sausage
• 1/2 cup onion
• 1 tsp italian seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 cloves garlic
• 10 cups chicken broth
• 16 oz ditalini pasta
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 8 oz cottage cheese, blended
• 5 oz spinach, finely chopped if you prefer

Directions

1. Brown your sausage in a soup pot or dutch oven
2. Drain the grease
3. Stir in onion, italian seasoning, salt and pepper and let that cook for 1-2 minutes
4. Add garlic and let that cook for another minute or until garlic becomes fragrant
5. Add chicken broth and use a hard wooden spatula to deglaze the pan
6. Add pasta and bring to a boil and let the soup boil for 8 minutes
7. Turn the heat down to medium low
8. Slowly add the blended cottage cheese to ensure it doesn't curdle. It might be a good idea to add a little bit of broth to the cheese first to warm it before adding it all to the hot soup.
9. Add parmesan cheese and spinach and cook for another 5 minutes until flavors are blended
10. Serve as is or top with extra parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Optional

1. For a creamier consistency, you can add heavy cream when you add the cheeses
2. You also can add 1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes if you would like a more acidic broth! If you do this, add the tomatoes in when you add in the pasta before you bring the soup to a boil