Cheese -it's Soup

This is a soup supper soup.  It can be tossed together in short order from pantry ingredients.   It is called Cheese it soup because the little ravioli look like the little cheese crackers. 

Brown 1 lb ground beef and 1 lb mild pork sausage. (You can get away with one pound of either if you aren’t feeding 3 teenage spuds.)

Sprinkle with about 1/2 tsp each of onion powder and garlic powder. (As always, if I had the time I’d use fresh, but we need to eat in short order!)  Drain the fat.

Add about 2 cups of beef broth. Preferably low sodium. Scrape up the yummy brown bits on the bottom of the pan.  Add 1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce.  Add about 1 jar of water to rinse out the rest of the sauce and give enough water for the sauce. (You may need to add another jar depending upon the type of pasta you use. Keep track and add as you see fit.)

Add about 1 tsp Italian herbs (or oregano, basil…. whatever you like)  Add about 1 cup red wine. (Tonight I used more of the white zin, but I would typically use the 3 buck chuck Merlot from TJ’s)
Bring to a boil. Add pasta. I used an entire package of dried cheese ravioli from TJ’s. You can use less if you want it to be more like soup and less like stew. I’ve made this with tortellini. I usually use cheese-filled and dried. You can use meat filled and fresh. You can use any pasta you like, but if you want it to look like little cheese crackers floating in a rich tomato broth you need to use the ravioli.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve when the pasta is al dente. Top with a good parmesan cheese. Enjoy.

As always, this is a very flexible roadmap. Feel free to add fresh veggies… some carrots, celery and onions as you brown the meat. Skip the meat entirely. Use leftover chicken. Add some cayenne pepper  or red pepper flakes to give it some spice.