Broccoli Rabe-and-White Bean Stoup

We have been very busy in the kitchen lately!  I have been trying out some new crock pot, soup, and stoup recipes lately.  It's Fall and it's time for some yummy new, healthy, Fall dishes.

A new thing I've been doing is making a new recipe at lunch time and if we really enjoy it (me and the kids) we save some for Daddy to take to lunch the next day!  And then that recipe gets put in my binder for a dinner meal idea for the next month!  Next week I'll be posting my October dinner menu plan!!!

Rachel Ray's magazine is one of my favs to find good recipes, because she loves Italian and flavorful cooking like we do!  This recipe comes from her October 2011 issue.

Ingredients:
salt and pepper
1 bunch of broccoli rabe, cut into 2 inch pieces
ice water
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lb hot or sweet Italian sausage (we didn't use meat this time)
1 onion finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 qt chicken stock
1 can (15 oz) cannellini beans rinsed
1 can 14.5 oz petite or diced stewed tomatoes (diced tomatoes is fine)
1 cup of orecchiette (ear shaped) pasta

Directions:

1. In a soup pot, bring a few inches water to a boil, salt it, add the broccoli rabe and cook for 5 min.  Drain and plunge into a bowl of ice water; drain again.

2. In the pot, heat the oil, add the sausage (or skip and add onion and garlic like I did) cook until browned add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 min. until softened.  Add the chicken stock, beans, tomatoes and 1 cup water, season with salt and pepper.

3. Cover the pot and bring to a boil.  Stir in the pasta and lower the heat and simmer for 8 minutes.  Turn off the heat and stir in broccoli rabe.  Top the stoup with Parmesan cheese!

Enjoy!!!