Creamy Italian Sausage Soup

16 oz. Italian sausage
4 c. chicken broth
¼ c. butter (½ stick)
2 c. Longmont Dairy Half & Half
½ medium onion, chopped
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 stalks celery, chopped
½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, optional
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. potatoes, peeled and diced
6 Tbsp. flour Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the sausage over medium-high heat in a soup pot until browned (about 10 minutes), breaking it up with your spoon as it cooks. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Leave about a tablespoon of the sausage drippings in the pot.

Note: to eliminate this step, substitute with sliced Rome’s Precooked Italian Sausage Links, available this month.

Melt the butter in the pot and sauté onion and celery for 4-5 minutes, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot.

Stir in garlic and flour. Cook for 2 minutes, breaking it up with your spoon to cook out the raw flour flavor. Slowly whisk in chicken broth until all the flour has dissolved and there are no lumps.

Stir in half-and-half, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, potatoes, and add the sausage back to the pot. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer. Cover the pot with the lid slightly ajar.

Let the soup simmer for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the soup has thickened, stirring occasionally.

Season with salt & pepper if needed.