Italian Sausage Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 lb Italian sausage (sweet or hot)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium onion, coarsley chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 (16 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 cup canned beef broth (or any of your favorite stock)
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups rotini pasta
1 small green pepper, coarsely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 small zucchini, coarsely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Preparation

Split casing on sausages, remove meat and discard casing.
Brown sausage, garlic and onion in Dutch oven, over medium heat until sausage done.
Stir frequently to break sausage apart; drain.
Stir in tomatoes, broth, water, pasta, green pepper and parsley.
Cover and heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.
Stir in zucchini; simmer an additional 5 minutes or until pasta and zucchini are tender.
Pour into soup bowls; garnish with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.