A different take on Zuppa Arcidossana

I made Mark Bittman's Zuppa Arcidossana last year and it was very good. Today, feeling a bit under the weather, I decided that I needed some soup again. The things I wanted in my soup were meat, starch and veggies. So... this afternoon, I took a chicken carcass out of my freezer, put it in the trusty le creset pot, added water, celery stalks, carrots, an onion, bay leaf, peppercorns, and some parsley stalks I had from earlier in the week. Simmered it for a couple hours.

My take on Zuppa Arcidossana

Ingredients
2 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
3/4 pound sausage (I think it was Turkey but it came out of my freezer so who knows)
1 pound spinach, washed
2 cups of chicken stock (I also added a little bit of water)
1.5 cups cooked pasta (I used pasta that looked like the shells of snails - no idea what they are called)
salt and pepper
1/4 -1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

I then set about chopping up the onion, garlic, carrots and celery.  After this was almost done, I put the turkey sausage in to the big le creuset pot, browned it a little bit then added onions etc and cooked it on medium for about 5-10 min stirring occasionally.

During this time I heated some water in another pot for the pasta.  I boiled pasta and then drained.
I added spinach to the le creuset pot with the sausage and veggie mix, allowed it to wilt and then added chicken stock.
Once the pasta was done and drained, I added this to the soup mix.  I served the soup with some grated parmesan on top.  I would also recommend some chopped flat leaf parsley but forgot about it.

Exactly what the doctor ordered and now I go to bed.

The Marc Bittman original below:

Zuppa Arcidossana

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings
1 cup 1/2-inch-diced carrots
1 large onion, chopped
3 or 4 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and black pepper
1 cup stale bread (use coarse, country-style bread), cut in 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 pound spinach, trimmed, washed and roughly chopped
1/4 to 1/2 cup ricotta salata, cut in 1/2-inch cubes (feta may be substituted)
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley, optional.
1. Put oil in a large pot or deep skillet and brown sausage over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. When sausage is cooked through and leaving brown bits in pan, add carrots, onion and garlic, and continue to cook until vegetables begin to soften and brown, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2. Add bread to pan and stir for a minute or 2; add spinach and continue cooking just until it wilts, a couple of minutes.
3. Add about 2 cups water and stir to loosen any remaining brown bits from pan. This is more of a stew than a soup, but there should be some broth, so add another cup of water if necessary. When broth is consistency of thin gravy, ladle stew into serving bowls and top with cheese and some freshly chopped parsley if you have it. Serve immediately.
Yield: 4 servings.