Swiss Chard, Sausage and Bean Soup

This a great wintery soup and lots of ingredient substitutions can be made (see Meal Modifications below). The nutmeg is a perfect match for the dark, leafy greens and gives you an unexpected flavor.  This makes a huge pot with plenty of leftovers.

Ingredients:
6 sweet sausage links, casing removed
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 bunch swiss chard, washed, stems removed and chopped
5 mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
pinch nutmeg
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pepper
48 ounces chicken broth
1 can red kidney beans, strained and rinsed
1/2 box ditalini pasta

In a large pot, cook sausage until brown, breaking it up with a wooden spoon into small pieces.  Add chopped onion and saute until  lightly browned and soft.  Add swiss chard, mushrooms, garlic, nutmeg, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir to combine and cook until greens wilt and soften. Then add beans.    

In the meantime cook pasta in pot of salted water until al dente (still a little hard, since it will continue to cook in the soup).  

Add chicken broth and simmer.  Add cooked pasta just before you're ready to eat, as it sucks up a lot of the moisture from the broth.

Serve with crusty bread and grated toscano cheese.

Meal Modifications:
*If you're not a pork eater, substitute chicken or turkey sausage.  Or leave the meat out completely.
*Escarole or kale could be used instead of swiss chard and will produce a similar leafy and bitter taste.
*Chicken stock can be substituted for the chicken broth or vegatable broth could be used.
*Any small pasta will do (shells, orzo, pastina, etc.) if you don't have ditalini.