Tuscan Soup

I took a recipe for Italian Chicken Noodle Soup that a friend gave me and tweaked it to make a delicious Tuscan soup. Billy said it reminds him a lot of Italian Wedding Soup. The first night it had a good flavor, but there wasn't much in it. Billy made some suggestions and I added to it the second night. It was so much better. We ended up getting about 4 meals out of it! Following is the recipe with mine and Billy's additions. (Changes from the original recipe are marked with an asterisk.)

Tuscan Soup

6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts*
1 lb. Italian sausage, browned, drained, and cut into large chunks*
2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
2 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. black pepper
1 pkg. frozen chopped spinach
1 can diced tomatoes - garlic/oregano/basil blend
1 lb. ziti pasta*
grated Parmesan cheese

Boil chicken in large pot of water. (Cover chicken with water about two inches from top of pot.) Remove chicken and let cool, then tear into medium-sized portions and put back into the chicken stock.

Add sausage, seasonings, spinach, and tomatoes and simmer for an hour. Add more seasonings if necessary.

When ready to eat, add pasta and cook according to package directions.

Sprinkle top of each serving with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

This soup is amazingly easy to make and has a great flavor. It went really well with the Asiago Cheese Bread I got from Panera. It's definitely a keeper!