I saw an episode of Ultimate Tyler today. He's one of my favorite chefs from the Food Network and also the Cooking Channel. EVERYTHING that I've made of his has been delicious and this didn't fail. He made a Minestrone Soup that got great reviews. Being that Alyssa isn't feeling well, I figured that this would be good for her for dinner. It's actually an easy recipe but it works best of you get the ingredients out ahead of time. The full recipe will be at the bottom.
First you saute the Sage, Thyme and Rosemary in the oil to flavor the oil. Add the 'tube' of breakfast sausage and break apart the pieces. Next, you chop up the carrots, celery and onion in the food processor. Dump them into the pot and cook for a few minutes.

While that is cooking, heat up the chicken broth and garlic in a pot. I used homemade chicken stock. The garlic BULB can just be thrown in because you're only using it to flavor the broth.


add the crushed tomatoes, bay leaf, beans etc.
Take the garlic out of the chicken stock. Add the chicken stock to the sausage mixture.
Cook the macaroni, drain and keep separate. I don't add mine to the soup until I'm ready to serve it. Otherwise the macaroni will soak up all of the broth. I also used garlic toast that we had on hand. I guess you can tell that I like garlic! The soup doesn't taste garlicky at all.

Hunter's Minestrone

by Tyler Florence
Serves:

6 servings

Ingredients

• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 1 head garlic, halved
• 1/2 pound small rigatoni
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 8 fresh sage leaves
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1 tube of frozen breakfast sausage or Sage sausage that's used for making stuffing, thawed
  
• 2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 celery ribs, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed plum tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 (28-ounce) cans cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 bunch fresh parsley leaves, finely minced
• Coarsely ground black pepper
• 12 slices baguette
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions

Combine the stock and halved garlic head in a big saucepan and simmer for about 15 minutes to give the stock a nice, garlicky taste; strain out the garlic. Keep warm.

Bring a pot of salted water to boil for the rigatoni.

Pour 1/4 cup olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the sage, rosemary and thyme and warm the oil over medium heat to infuse it with the flavor of the herbs, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up the sausage with the side of a big spoon until well browned. Chop the carrots, celery, and onion in a food processor. Add to the saucepan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but not browned.

To the pan with the sausage stir in the crushed tomatoes, bay leaf, cannelloni beans, and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.

Cook the rigatoni in the boiling water for 6 minutes; it should be slightly underdone. Drain and stir into the simmering soup. Add the parsley, and salt and coarsely ground black pepper, to taste. Discard the bay leaf and herb sprigs.

To serve, preheat the broiler. Put the baguette slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with the Parmigiano and broil until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown, about 3 minutes. Ladle the soup into bowls and float a couple of the baguette slices on top.