Instant Pot Sausage and Cabbage Soup

This quick, easy and tasty Sausage and Cabbage Soup is made in the Instant Pot (pressure cooker) for a dish that's on the table in 30 minutes!

It's still summery out there, I know, but before you know it, the cold weather would just sneak upon us. Thus, I have been doing my preparations in advance making some soup recipes that we can count on to give up warmth and comfort during the coming chilly weather!!

Cheese Tortellini Soup with White Beans and Kielbasa

In 30 minutes you can serve your family a hearty and delicious soup! Easy-peasy yumminess in a bowl!

I have been making quite a lot of soup this winter season. You may think, well, that's pretty normal for the cold season. Perhaps but it's not normal for me. Since the Philippines is a hot country with only two major seasons - wet and dry - which incidentally are both relatively warm (hot!) weather, you won't often find soup on a Filipino's daily menu. Besides that, soup, like tea, when served, is often associated with an ailment or being unwell as that's often what's given to anyone who has been afflicted with some illness in the Philippines. Having this background, you can imagine, I am not much of a soup person at all.

Italian Sausage, Kale and White Bean Soup

In 30 minutes you have a delicious, nutritious and hearty soup for the whole family -  Italian Sausage, Kale and White Bean Soup. Easy recipe, too.

Winter season is soup season indeed! Since winter is also the season when you most likely will get sick or catch a bug, I want to make sure that I feed  my family healthy and wholesome food, too. As we all know green and leafy vegetables are one of the best sources of nutrients and Kale is certainly often considered the queen (or was it king?) of greens! Naturally, since it's not exactly candy material and the bright tint of green doesn't excite my kids either - I need to devise some ways to make them eat this healthy veggie!

Italian Sausage Casserole

This Italian Sausage Casserole is delicious and loaded with flavors from meat, herbs and vegetables! A healthy and yummy option for those in a gluten-free and low-carb diet, too!

Last November we went to England because of a family emergency. While we were there we met up with some of our friends. We only get to see them when we come to the UK for a visit so when we are over we make sure we meet at least once. One of the Sundays we were in London we attended worship service at St. Helen's, part of the Church of England denomination. Our friend attends this church regularly and we all decided to have dinner together after the evening service. After our souls were fed, we wondered where to get some physical nourishment. Thankfully, we didn't have to go too far to find a restaurant as St. Helen's, on Sunday nights, offers a dining service in one of its buildings for a very reasonable price. And the food was really good!!!

Italian Sausage and Broccoli Alfredo Pasta

This post is is sponsored by Prego^® Sauces.  All opinions are mine alone. 

Ready in 30 minutes or less, this delicious Italian Sausage and Broccoli Alfredo Pasta meal makes dinner a breeze for Mom. Just five ingredients is all you need!

Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup

Several years ago when we were still living in Michigan, one of the ladies from our church prepared this soup for our ladies fellowship. All of us who attended that meeting enjoyed this very tasty soup and naturally we all asked for the recipe. She kindly gave us a copy and I have never forgotten this yummy soup ever since.

Grilled Sausages with Peppers in Sweet Chili Sauce

My husband is British as you probably already know especially if you are a regular follower of this blog. That means, like most, Brits, he loves Sausages. So when summer comes, you can be sure we'll be grilling aplenty. Oftentimes, there are left-overs and we love it when that happens! The reason why? This recipe!

Sausage and Egg Fried Rice

If there is one dish that I make a few times a week (yes, a week not a month) it has to be Sinangag or Fried Rice. It should not come as a surprise, after all, I have grown up eating rice 3x a day and my hubby, who prefers a more gluten-free diet, also loves it, too. My kids, naturally, are big rice eaters too so it makes a lot of sense for me to always cook a big batch of rice. Perhaps, I am just too lazy to make a small batch of rice each time (after all, I only need to push the cook button on my rice cooker and it does all the job!). However, the truth is, I make a huge batch of rice each time so I have left-overs which means, extra rice for making fried rice the next day. This time I don't mind the extra effort of cooking it - in fact, we don't have any microwave so everything has to be heated up on the stove top every time, anyway.

Creamy Beef and Italian Sausage Lasagna

Inspired by my Cheesy Baked Bolognese recipe, I created this delicious and creamy Lasagna. Instead of the usual plain ground beef, I added some ground Italian sausage to the mix. With some dried Thyme, garlic powder and some cream cheese and sour cream thrown in for good measure - there's only one thing to say about this - DELICIOUS! Please enjoy!

Sautéed Green Beans and Yellow Squash with Italian Sausages

Saturday is Farmer's Market Day in our area so to give my hubby some peace and quiet while he works at home, the tots and myself often make a trip to the market. We love to look at all the lovely produce that the vendors have on offer though I think my kids are really after the freshly made donuts that I usually get for them when we get there. As for me, I am always on the look-out for fresh and preferably organic veggies that I can use for cooking.

Penne with Italian Sausage and Creamy Tomato Sauce

We have been so fortunate to have a great traditional Butcher shop so near our house. I can actually walk from our house to their store. How convenient is that! Sadly, they will soon be moving to another town and we will miss them terribly. Thankfully though, we often visit this town and so we can continue to get our favorite meat combos from their shop and still enjoy cooking with them. We just need to buy in bulk and have our cooler ready for the long haul. :-)

Italian Sausage Ragù

Sausage and Pasta are one of the best combinations of food I can think of. The sausage adds robust flavor to the dish while the pasta just readily absorbs the sauce that you mix with it - what a lovely marriage of flavors! When we buy Italian Sausages from our favorite butcher chances are we are having a good pasta dish for dinner! So that Mark can join in he gets his own Brown rice pasta so it's gluten-free and, naturally, everybody's happy.

A ragù is basically an Italian pasta sauce containing meat and tomatoes; in other words, a meat-based sauce. The best example would be Bolognese sauce, which is truly one of my favorite pasta sauces. I am hoping to share pretty soon the Bolognese sauce that I always make for my family so watch this space.

However, a truly super-delicious Bolognese sauce cannot be achieved in a hurry. It can take up to 2 hours or more of slow cooking on the stove-top to get that perfect taste. It is so worth the wait, I must say! Sometimes if I have the luxury of time, especially if I plan ahead, then Bolognese is my number 1 choice. But when I want something flavorful but kind of in the 30 minute range this is my next best choice. It's a pretty easy dish and doesn't need 2 hours to achieve the right flavor although I must say that when I tasted the left-overs the next day - it was even better. That's the beauty of this dish, you can enjoy it the first time and if ever you find yourself having some left-overs then you're in for a yummy treat the next day! So enjoy this easy but flavorful Italian Sausage Ragù.

Ingredients

1-2 Tbsp Olive oil
1 lb Hot or Sweet (or combo) Italian sausage - diagonally cut
1 medium onion, chopped
4-6 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup red wine
3 plum tomatoes, diced or pureed in a food processor or 1 (14 oz) can diced/crushed tomatoes (juice included)
1 1/2 Tablespoon dried parsley
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
Salt and Pepper, to taste
12 oz Penne (or your choice of pasta)
Parmesan Cheese, to pass around

Procedure

Over medium heat, brown the sausages in a little olive oil in a deep frying pan. Transfer to a plate.

Bring a big pot of water to boil to begin the process of cooking your pasta. Cook the pasta according to package directions or until al dente (tender yet still firm to the bite, not mushy).

In the same pan where the sausages were cooked, saute the onion until it starts to soften, roughly 3-4 minutes. Add in the garlic and continue to cook for another minute. If it dries out too much, you may add an additional 1 Tablespoon olive oil to it.

Pour in the wine and bring to a boil. Deglaze the pan by using a wooden spoon to remove the browned bits on the bottom. Stir in the diced/crushed or pureed tomatoes (if canned, add everything including the juice) and the dried herbs. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Simmer on low, uncovered, for about 15-20 minutes or until the wine taste is no longer too prominent and the sauce has thickened. Add back the reserved sausages and cook until heated through, another 5 minutes or so. Adjust the seasoning to your taste. And if you wish to enhance the flavors some more,  sprinkle a little bit of brown sugar on the dish (not to sweeten) but just to balance the flavors. This is my natural substitute for MSG. Keep warm until the pasta is ready.

After the pasta has cooked, drain it well. Place in a large serving bowl and then pour the sauce on top. Toss well and serve. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese for added flavor! Delish!

If you like what you see and would like to receive new recipe updates, feel free to subscribe to our posts and join our site. You can also like us on Facebook were you can get the earliest updates available. Happy browsing and thanks for stopping by Manila Spoon! Have a wonderful day!

Filipino (Pinoy) Style Lentil Soup

It's getting really cold now and I miss my favorite Mung Bean dish - Ginisang Munggo - which we often have in the Philippines. When I discovered that lentils have a similar taste and texture to my fave mungo I decided to cook it the same way and I love the result. For this recipe, instead of the usual pork and beef cutlets traditionally added in Ginisang Munggo, I opted for Italian sausages for richer taste and texture. Towards the end of cooking, I added some spinach leaves to pack in extra nutrients!

If you're thinking of one healthy meal to cook for your  family that's full of good flavor without much guilt, you have to try this recipe. My husband particularly loves this and little Sophie eats this with rice!

Just leave out the meat if you want a vegan or vegetarian option. Enjoy this healthy soup (or stew) during the cooler days!





To delete the photos for printing, click on the image box and tick the "remove" button.


Ingredients

1 Tbsp olive oil
5-6 crushed garlic cloves
2 medium size onions, chopped
1 lb Italian or your favorite sausage (mild or hot or a combo), cut/chopped diagonally
5 diced roma tomatoes 
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 ½ cups dried lentils
5 cups of water
1 (10 oz) bag of spinach

Procedure

Heat the olive oil in a deep pan. Sauté the garlic and onions until the onions are tender about 3-4 mins.

Add the sausages and cook until brown. Stir in the tomatoes and soy sauce. Season with salt and pepper then cook for another 3-4 minutes. In the meantime, rinse the lentils and drain. Add the lentils and water to the sausages and vegetables then bring to a boil.

  

Simmer covered for about an hour or until lentils are tender. Finally, add the spinach and cook just until it's wilted.

Adjust seasoning to your taste. Serve hot on its own or paired with bread or rice.

If you wish to print the recipe, there's a print-friendly icon at the end of the post. Click on the "remove images" box for easy and convenient printing.

If you like what you see and would like to receive new recipe updates we'd love you to join our site, like us on Facebook or follow us on Pinerest. Thanks for stopping by Manila Spoon and happy browsing!