Healthy Chickpea and Sausage Minestrone

I made this soup last week and loved it! I used quinoa noodles though to go gluten free with the meal. I also could not find hot turkey sausage so I got Italian chicken sausage instead and added more crushed red pepper. Also, to save time, I bought the onion, carrot and celery already diced up at the store. 

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup uncooked small shell pasta
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 1 (4-ounce) link hot turkey Italian sausage, casing removed
• 1 cup diced onion 
• 1 cup diced carrot 
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 5 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 (15-ounce) can unsalted chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
• 4 cups unsalted chicken stock (such as Swanson) 
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. 1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain.
2. 2. While pasta cooks, heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add sausage; cook 3 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring to crumble. Add onion and next 6 ingredients (through garlic); cook 10 minutes. Add chickpeas, tomatoes, and stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in pasta, salt, and black pepper; cook 1 minute.