Italian Sausage Soup

This soup has become a Christmas Tradition for my family. My two Brothers and I would always have our friends over on Christmas night after all of the Family festivities. My Mother would always make us all a big pot of this soup and it would be gone in 10 minutes! Our friends looked forward to this every year!

• 4 lbs Italian Sausage, removed from casings and browned
• 1 large Yellow Onion, chopped
• 1 bunch of Celery, chopped
• 8 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 28oz cans of Crushed Tomatoes
• 1 28 oz can of Italian Peeled Tomatoes
• 2 32 oz boxes of Chicken Broth
• Olive Oil
• 2 tsp Oregano
• 2 tsp Dried Basil
• 2 tsp Thyme
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• S&P to taste
• 1 lb Small Soup Shells
• Parmesan or Romano Cheese for garnish

Brown your Italian Sausage, drain and set aside.
Saute diced celery, onion in garlic in olive oil until just tender.
Add Italian sausage, crushed tomatoes and peeled tomatoes. Stir and let cook on medium for about 10 minutes.
Add broth, sugar and seasonings. Simmer for about 30 minutes.
In the meantime, boil shell pasta in salted water until al dente.
Put desired amount of pasta in bowl and spoon soup over. Garnish with your favorite Italian Cheese.
Enjoy!

Source:

http://www.cookingwithnonna.com/italian-cuisine/italian-sausage-soup.html