Vegetable & Turkey Sausage Soup

I found a recipe in March's Cooking Light that looked promising but I switched it up a bit with ingredients that I liked and it turned out great.

Ingredients:

* 1 package of sweet or hot turkey sausage
* 2 cups finely chopped onion
* 2 cups finely chopped zucchini
* 1 cup finely chopped carrot
* 1 tsp kosher salt, divided
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 tbsp tomato paste
* 3 cups low sodium chicken broth
* 2 (15.5-ounce) can low-sodium canellini beans, drained and rinsed
* 1/3 cup half and half
* 1 tbsp chopped dried rosemary
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Directions

Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Take turkey sausage out of the casing and add sausage to pan, and cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove from pan; keep warm.Return pan to medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, zucchini, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and garlic; cook stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in 2 tablespoons tomato paste and red pepper; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Place 1 cup vegetable mixture, 1/2 cup of broth, and 1 can of beans in a food processor or a blender, and process until smooth.

Return pureed bean mixture to pan. Add remaining 2 1/2 cups of broth and 1 can of beams; bring to a boil. Add turkey sausage back to the pot and reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes until thoroughly cooked. Remove from heat, and stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, half-and-half, rosemary and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper.