Anja's Italian Sausage Vegetable Soup

This recipe came with the following preface: "Leif and Freyja both loved it".  Leif is three and a half and Freyja just turned one.  If they both like the same dish, it must be amazing.  And it is! Really delicious - plus it is fast and easy to make:

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• wine
• 1 lb loose Italian sausage (I used mild)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3- 4 carrots, chopped
• 3 - 4 celery ribs, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic - minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 14.5oz can stewed tomatoes
• 1 can cannellini beans
• 2 cans of condensed chicken broth, one can of water (may use 2 cans if you want)
• 1 cup rotini pasta, uncooked
• 1.5 cups baby spinach, cleaned
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated 

Heat some olive oil and cook sausage in skillet, until done.  Transfer cooked sausage into stock pot.  Add the onions to the empty skillet, add a little more olive oil if necessary, and cook until they are "glassy". Add the minced garlic to the onion and mix well, cook for another minute or so. Add the chopped carrots and celery, and stir in the skillet, together with the onions for about 5 minutes. (At this point, I add freshly ground pepper)

Deglaze skillet with about 1/2 a cup of (red) wine, then add all the vegetables to the stock pot with the meat. Add the tomatoes, beans, and the 2 cans of chicken broth plus 1 can of water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 15 minutes. (Test your carrots to see how done they are).  Add the pasta and cook for at least another 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and add the spinach. Let soup stand for another 5 minutes. Top with grated cheese in bowls.

Enjoy!