I am officially redacting all former statements that I am not a soup person. I/we have made multiple soups over the last few winters. Each year when we see the temperatures dip, soups start making their way into weekly meals more and more. This soup has been part of some weekly meals every winter (and some autumns, and some springs). It is good any time of year and with that, my redaction is now complete.

I guess I must say I am now a soup person. Now, I won’t go to the extreme that I crave it more than once a week, but if you’ve followed me at all, every soup in here has referenced that I like making soup more than eating and that is now done. Where as Ski Soup – I have enjoyed eating this soup even more than the making of it.

The list of ingredients is impressive with so many vegetables with a surprising finishing addition of apple cider vinegar.  The last piece was some really good Italian sausage. It adds the right amount of sweet, spice, and fattiness to punch up the broth.

That box of pasta that you see there had gotten me in some trouble when I first moved to Minnesota many years ago. There was a great debate when I would make my chili because where I grew up, we put noodles in our chili. My friends here laughed and called that a hot dish, and not chili. I disagreed. Well, I’m not sure if there will be that same debate here, as this soup has pasta in it, but I say ‘deal with it…its damn good.’

This soup was Eric’s choice and he’s made this soup for dinner a few times. The first time it came time to eat, he said he was transported back to time spent in Montana and the hearty soups at the ski chalets when off the slopes. You won’t find me on the slopes, but you could find me at the chalet warming up with a bowl of this soup and some buttered rustic bread. Happy days!

Ski Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsl olive oil
• 12 oz sweet Italian sausage
• 3/4 cup diced onion
• 3/4 cup diced carrot
• 3/4 cup diced celery
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Kosher salt
• Fresh cracked black pepper
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup frozen green beans
• 1 cup dried elbow macaroni, or small pasta of choice
• 2 Tbls apple cider vinegar
• Parmesan cheese, for serving

Preparation:

Heat the olive oil in a 4 quart+ stockpot or dutch oven over medium heat. Remove sausage from casing and add to pot, breaking apart into smaller chunks as it is cooking. When cooked all the way through, remove from pot and put on a paper towel lined plate.

To the same pot, add onion, carrot, and celery. Sauteed for 4-5 minutes. Then add garlic, salt and pepper, unless the garlic is fragrant. Add the stock, diced tomatoes, green beans, corn, and reserved sausage.

Bring soup to a low simmer, then add the macaroni and cook another 10 minutes until the pasta is cooked through. Stir in vinegar. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Serve immediately with freshly grated parmesan and warmed rustic bread.

Happy Souping!!!

*Recipe adaptation from cookbook titled: Après All Day.