Italian Sausage and Orzo Soup

I was gonna skip this week's recipe swap, because I really need to get to bed as we're leaving for vacation in the morning. But then I saw it was a swap of soup recipes this week, and I LOVE SOUP! I LOVE MAKING SOUP! So, here it is!

My friend DB and I went to Maggiano's in Boston one day for an excellent meal. For my appetizer, I had this wonderful sausage orzo soup. I loved it so much that I had to try to replicate it. I dug out a cookbook I have with 1000 soup recipes and combined two of them to get pretty close. I continue to refine it, but I think it's pretty darn close.

Ingredients:

1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casing removed
1½ cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrots
½ cup chopped celery
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
6 cups beef broth
2 cans (14.5 ounce) Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained
¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
¼ teaspoon dried marjoram leaves
½ teaspoon dried oregano leaves
4 to 6 ounces (1/4 to 1/3 of a 1 pound box) dried orzo

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Directions:

1. In soup pot, squeeze the Italian sausage from its casing and brown over high heat, using wooden spoon to break up. About halfway through the browning, add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic to sauté with the sausage.
2. Once the sausage is cooked, add the broth, canned tomatoes, and spices. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add orzo and cook for 9-10 minutes or as specified on package.