Vegetable Soup with Chicken Sausage

This recipe was born because I had tomatoes, peppers, and celery I needed to use.  I also had some chicken sausage in the freezer to use, but this recipe could easily be vegetarian too.  We like a thicker soup so I used two cans of tomato paste, but one can is plenty for a thinner soup.  My two year old is very picky and she ate 3 bowls!

Serves 6

1-2 Tbsps Olive Oil
4 Stalks of Celery, halved and sliced
1 Medium Onion, diced
4 Carrots, peeled and sliced
6 Tomatoes, sliced in half (cherry or grape tomatoes work too and if fresh tomatoes are not an option than a can of diced tomatoes could work too)
1 Pepper, seeded and diced
1lb Chicken Sausage, cut into bite sized pieces
1-2 Tsps Garlic Powder
1 Carton of Vegetable Stock or Chicken Stock
10oz Package of Frozen Squash, thawed
2 6oz Cans of Tomato Paste
1/2 lb of Ditalini Pasta

Place olive oil, celery, onion, carrots, tomatoes and pepper into multicooker set to sauté or in a large sauté pan on the stove set to medium heat.  Let the veggies soften for a couple of minutes and add the sausage and garlic powder.  Let sausage start to brown slightly.  If using the multicooker, switch to slow cooker setting now or pour contents into a slow cooker.  Add the stock and squash.  Let soup slow cook for 3-5 hours on low. 

About a half hour before serving, turn slow cooker to high and add the tomato paste.  When bubbling nicely, add the ditalini and give the soup a quick stir.  The pasta will cook in about 10 minutes in the slow cooker.  Serve soup with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.