Tortellini Soup

When the weather starts to cool off, this is the meal my family requests - Tortellini Soup. The original recipe came from The Wild Wild West Cookbook - a Junior League cookbook from Odessa, Texas, the town where I grew up. I have made modifications, but that was my foundation.

Just a quick funny story. Shortly after I discovered the recipe, I was visiting in the home of a new acquaintance. Since we both liked to cook, our conversation naturally went that direction. When we both remarked that we had the best soup recipe (in Colorado, hot soup is a big deal), she ran to the kitchen to share hers with me. You guessed it - it was the same recipe ... almost. With great confidence I said, "My recipe is better. It is exactly the same, but you add tortellini."

The broth and vegetables are delicious enough to stand on there own. And the tortellini takes the soup to "Out-of-This-World."

Ingredients:

1 lb Italian sausage, hot or mild                    1.5 cups red wine or water     

1.5 cups onion, chopped                                1 - 16 oz can diced tomatoes

2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped                        1 - 16 oz can tomato sauce

1.5 cups carrots, chopped                              1 teaspoon Italian herbs
5 cups water                                                   2 - zucchini, sliced
2 tablespoons Better Than Bouillon beef       frozen tortellini, to taste

I used to be able to buy one pound of ground Italian sausage. Now I can only find the links. Remove the casing and brown the meat in a large stock pot.

While the meat is cooking, chop your vegetables. 

 According to my grandmother (the one with the sofa), the vegetables should be large enough to recognize what they are. (So if you don't want your picky eaters to recognize the vegetables, I guess you should put them in the blender?)

Once the meat is browned, add the onions and garlic. Cook until the onions are translucent.

Just a note. The meat and onions take on a richer flavor when they are cooked a bit longer. I discovered that when I happened to "burn" the soup right at this point. I truly thought it would be inedible. It was pretty black in several spots. Of course, I still served it to my family, and they unanimously agreed it was the even better than usual. If you want to try this, I recommend that you wait to add the garlic until the last few minutes. Garlic gets bitter when it is cooked too long.

Once your meat and onion are burnt cooked, add the water, bouillon, wine, carrots, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and herbs. Cook without the lid for about 30 minutes. 

Note 1: I have found 2 different brands of paste bouillon - Better Than Bouillon and McCormicks. Both are equally good and I highly recommend them. Of course, I get the big jars at Costco. So cheap. If you have homemade beef stock just sitting around, please use that. But then you are probably a profession chef and would not be reading my recipe. You can also use canned beef broth, but that takes up too much room in the pantry. The only thing you may NOT use are those weird little bouillon cubes. Those are nasty.

Note 2: To wine or not to wine. That is the question. You can always use cooking wine, found in the grocery store with the vinegar. It's really pretty expensive if you look at the per ounce price, plus it has added salt (to keep anyone from drinking more than a small taste, I'm sure). Or you can use grape juice with a bit of vinegar. Or, like the recipe says, you can just use water. But I confess, I use wine. I buy a full-sized bottle of $3 wine at the grocery store and keep it under my sink. No one ever drinks anything under the sink. Right? And for $3, I suspect any oenophile would drink drain cleaner before drinking a $3 bottle of wine.

Note 3: I always have dried Italian herbs. But sometimes I get creative and use fresh basil, thyme,  oregano, and/or rosemary. All very easy to grow, by the way. Or you can just add an assortment of dried Italian herbs you happen to have around - basil, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, sage. Just make sure they total about 1 teaspoon if dried. You can use more if they are fresh. 

That probably took 30 minutes to read, so it's time to add the zucchini ... and maybe the tortellini. If your large family is starting to dig through the fridge and the pantry, claiming that starvation is eminent, add the tortellini - lots of it. When the pasta is done, soups on.

If, on the other hand, you making this ahead and will be freezing the broth or eating the soup later, hold off on the pasta. This stores and freezes beautifully. Just reheat and add the tortellini 5-10 minutes before you eat.

If you are only going to be feeding a small group, add just enough pasta for your diners. When you eat the left-overs, you can add more tortellini and it won't be all mushy and over-cooked.

Now why did I not tell you how much tortellini to use? My family digs for the tortellini. The first few times I made this recipe if you are the last person to serve your plate, you got no tortellini. That will never happen again!

You are the best judge of how much tortellini your crowd will need.

 I have also been known to take one left-over serving of soup, add a boatload of pasta, and serve 3 people. 

Also, the left-over soup can have disappearing broth. You will know when this happens. Just add some water.

Tortellini Soup

topped with Grated Parmesan Cheese

Green Salad

Crusty Bread

If you have a favorite soup recipe, I would love to hear from you. Soup is my favorite meal.