Ditalini & Dandelion Greens Soup

Cooler, rainy weather has arrived! And that calls for soup! For anyone that isn't familiar with dandelion greens, they are a super bitter green that you can toss into salads combined with a milder one like bibb lettuce. Or you could saute them with a little olive oil and butter for a simple way to dress them and really enjoy the green for what it is. If you aren't a fan of bitter greens you can still make this soup using spinach. And for a leaner version instead of the pork sausage, you can use chicken or turkey sausage. For a veggie version, you can use veggie broth and throw in some cooked beans and wild rice. Great way to use the leftover pesto from Monday's recipe (July 16th post). This serves 4. Soup tastes great warm! Enjoy!

• 1 bunch of dandelion greens, about 4 cups tightly packed
• 1 1/2 cups ditalini pasta, cooked
• 1 pound bulk Italian pork sausage
• 32 oz. chicken broth, low-sodium
• 3 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
• 1 teaspoon dried mushrooms. I used champignon but any kind will do, if large just chop them up a little bit.
• 1 heaping teaspoon sun dried tomatoes packed in olive oil, minced
• 4 eggs, cooked over easy
• 4 teaspoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup basil pesto
• sea salt
• fresh ground pepper

Trim the tougher stems of the greens and roughly chop them, into small pieces. In a dutch oven, saute the sausage, stirring it and breaking it up often. Once the sausage is cooked through, stir in the garlic and the mushrooms. Saute for about five minutes. Stir in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. This soup is low in broth so you can always add more. Once it boils toss in the dandelion greens and the sun dried tomatoes. Cook on low heat for ten minutes. Toss in the pasta and give your soup a good stir. Adjust the seasonings if needed. If I'm not using my own chicken broth and using store-bought I like to get low sodium because you can always add more salt but you can't take it away. Once your soup is done, you can make your eggs in the butter. Ladle your soup into bowls, top each bowl with an egg and you can top with pesto or leave your pesto in a bowl to pass around. The soup is so good once your break the yolk, it thickens the soup beautifully and adds such great flavor.