Zuppa Arcidossana

This is one of my favorite meals. I do not make it often enough. It is truly comfort on a plate. The sausage is browned and perfectly cooked. The onions and carrots melt in your mouth. And the bread, well that just makes it all so much better. This recipe came from a Mark Bittman New York Times article. I made it for the first time back 2009. It is delicious and we both went back for seconds.

Ingredients-

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings
1 cup 1/2-inch-diced carrots
1 large onion, 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
1/2 cup feta
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley

Method-

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 and onion 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.

I am taking a trip to Maryland next weekend and did some baking for the trip...