Italian Stew

Cold days make me want something hot and satisfying for dinner, like a tasty stew.  This one is packed full of flavor and so simple to make.

I found this recipe in the September/October 1999 issue of my Quick Cooking magazine and I've been making it for years.  It's a hearty stew that I put in the "comfort food" category.  My guys give this recipe 8's and 9's on the Melnarik rating scale.

I begin by placing the Italian sausage in my Dutch oven, breaking it up as it cooks over medium-high heat.  When the meat is no longer pink, I drain it to remove any excess fat.

While the sausage was cooking, I chopped the onions and sliced the celery and carrots.  After draining the sausage, I added these vegetables to it, stirring to combine and reduced the heat to medium.

In a very small bowl, I combined the Italian seasoning, basil, salt and pepper.

I added the seasonings to the sausage and vegetable mixture and cooked it for 5 minutes until the vegetables were crisp-tender, stirring occasionally.

Then I added the tomatoes, stirring to combine.

To that, I added the tomato soup, again stirring to combine.

Whenever a recipe calls for adding water as well as canned goods, I always add a little bit of the water to each can to capture anything left in the can and add it to the dish.  My mom always did that, saying she didn't want to waste any of the flavor that could be left in the can.  Once all of the water is added, I bring the pot to a boil.  Then I reduce the heat, cover the pot and let it simmer for 30 minutes.  Then I stir in the rice, cover the pot and cook for another 10 minutes.  I just realized I must not have taken a picture after adding the water, as the one above has the rice added already, sorry!

 

This hearty stew is bursting with flavor and will warm you to the core on a cold day!  Enjoy!

Italian Stew

1 pound bulk Italian sausage

1medium onion, chopped

½ cup chopped celery

2 medium carrots, sliced 1/8 inch thick

½ teaspoon Italian seasoning

¼ teaspoon dried basil

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 can (14.5 oz.) Italian stewed tomatoes

1 can (10 ¾ oz.) condensed tomato soup, undilitued

2 cups water

¾ cup uncooked instant rice

In a Dutch oven, cook the sausage until no loner pink; drain.  Add the onion, celery, carrots, Italian seasoning, basil, salt and pepper.  Cook and sir over medium heat for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are crisp-tender.  Stir in the tomatoes, soup and water; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.  Stir in the rice, cover and cook for 10 minutes or until tender.


Yield:  4 servings