Chicken & Sausage Soup with Stuffed Pasta

Add bacon to a large stock pot or Dutch oven and turn on heat to medium. Allow the bacon fat to render out slowly so as not to burn it. Cook, stirring intermittently. so nothing sticks to the bottom. Once the bacon is crisp to your liking, remove it to a paper towel lined plate.

Next, cook the sausage in the bacon grease just until the edges begin to crisp up and the pieces begin to lightly char. Remove to the plate with the bacon.

Remove all but 1 tbsp of the bacon grease from the pot. Add 1 tsp of canola oil. Allow the pot to reheat over medium, then add the onion, garlic and carrots. Cook the veggies until they are tender-crisp but have not developed color.

Add up to 1 tbsp of canola to the pot if needed, then toss in the chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Eyeball it but don’t go crazy. You are only seasoning the chicken, not the whole pot of soup! Cook the chicken until golden brown.

Pour in the broth and the water. Throw in the bouillon and stir well to combine, be sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to get all the goodies up. Bring to a light simmer and add the pasta. Cover with a lid and simmer over medium heat until the pasta is cooked through and floating.

Carefully fold in the cheese dip and pesto, being mindful as to not break up the pasta.

Add the sausage and bacon back to the pot, stir to incorporate.

Taste for seasoning, adjust with salt and pepper as needed. Serve with crusty bread or a grilled cheese sandwich.