It's winter, so I adapt my cooking to the season.

I cook depending on what foods are on sale. Recently, I bought the large package of sweet sausages on sale. We usually have sausage and pepper hero sandwiches or sausages and spaghetti for dinner; but my favorite recipe to make with sausages is sausage soup.

I got this recipe from my friend’s aunt years ago. I use sweet sausage most of the time, but you could add hot sausage to spice it up. Another option would be to sprinkle in red pepper flakes. My soup is made only with sweet sausages, because I personally do not like the hot kind. I let my husband add whatever he wants to his own dish to spice it up.

I make a large pot of this whenever I make it. Luckily, I always have homemade chicken soup frozen and ready to use. If I run short, I just add one can of plain chicken broth. As far as the red wine, it could be Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon or whatever red wine you already have open in your home. The wine just adds that extra flavor.

My husband’s friend, Joe, was over the other night, and we asked him to join us for dinner. Tom, my husband, said we were having sausage soup.

“Sausage soup, what’s that?” Joe asked nervously.

Since we were serving the soup only as a first course, and steak as the second course, Joe seemed relieved.

Well, Joe loved the sausage soup! For something different for dinner, try sausage soup, you’ll like it too!

Sausage Soup

• 5 to 7 sweet sausage
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery chopped
• 1 to 2 14-1/2-ounce cans of petite cut tomatoes with either onions, celery and peppers or in garlic and oil
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 6 cups homemade chicken broth or 3, 13-ounce cans chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon basil (more if you like it)
• 1 box small, shaped pasta (orzo, small shells, ditalini), cooked
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil

1. Remove sausage from casing and crumble or buy it already out of the casing. Cook in a large soup pot with a little olive oil on the bottom. Cook until the pink is gone from the meat. Drain fat, if necessary, but leave some for the flavor. Remove meat to a bowl and set aside.
2. Add chopped celery and onions and saute till tender. Add tomatoes and continue cooking. Return sausage to pot. Add other ingredients and simmer. Lastly, cook pasta, according to directions, drain and set aside.
3. Serve with some Italian bread and grated Parmesan cheese if you like. Serves 4 to 6.

ENJOY! It’s a soup, and it’s a meal.

Mariann Raftery, creator of Somebody's Mom blog, cooks up comfort food recipes for families here at home, as well as sending homemade cookie care packages to our American soldiers overseas. Somebody's Mom Cooking videos at http://www.youtube.com, search "Thesomebodysmom".