Spicy Sausage and Tortellini Soup

I am not a good cook. In fact, when I try to cook it often turns out like this…an icky mess.

However, years ago I did master the art of searching through my pantry, taking a bunch of prepackaged items already there, throwing them together in a pot and calling them soup.

The only problem — I rarely, if ever, remembered exactly what I added. I could remember the big stuff (like canned chicken, potatoes, or a pack of taco seasoning) but usually had no idea what or how much of any other spices or seasonings I added. It was usually a little bit of this and a little bit of that until I thought it tasted okay.  (Oh, and butter…lots and lots of butter.)

I made all kinds of soups, veggie soups, meat soups, chili’s, even a fish soup once.  Soups were the only thing I seemed to have success with so I did them often. There were many we liked, but there were only a few that were easy enough to do again and again.

Today, with the cool weather blowing in and temperatures dropping, it seemed like a great day to dig out one of those recipes and share it with you.

As always, it isn’t gourmet…but it is easy and fast and will do in a pinch.

Spicy Sausage and Tortellini Soup 

Ingredients

Olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, minced, or one Tbsp. of garlic in a jar (we like lots of garlic)

½ stick of unsalted butter

1 tsp. Italian Seasoning (found in the spice section of the grocery store)

Salt

Pepper

1 lb. hot breakfast sausage

1 26 oz. carton of beef cooking stock

1 26 oz. jar of pasta sauce (we used Fire-Roasted Tomato & Garlic)

1 16 oz. pkg. frozen Italian Vegetables (or whatever kind you have)

1 12-15 oz. pkg. of 5-Cheese tortellini (or whatever kind you have on hand)

Parmesan cheese

Italian Parsley

In a 5 qt. Dutch oven brown the sausage and onion in olive oil on medium to medium-high heat.  Drain.  Add the garlic, salt and pepper to taste (meaning how much you like).  I use less salt since I know the pasta sauce will have it in it already. Add the Italian Seasoning.  Stir for a few minutes — you want to release the flavors but not burn the garlic.

Once it’s browned, add the beef stock, the pasta sauce, (I add about 2 cups of water to the empty pasta jar and shake it to get ALL the sauce off the sides of the jar. Then I add it to the pot, too.) and the butter. Heat to an almost boil, then lower heat and simmer for about ten minutes.

Add the frozen veggies – return to almost boil.

Turn off heat – add the tortellini and stir.  (The tortellini heats in 5-6 minutes.) Spoon into bowls and top with grated Parmesan cheese and a bit of fresh, minced, Italian parsley.

For all of you domestically impaired folks (like me), the Italian Seasoning is found in the spice section of the grocery store.  The tortellini will be in the fresh pasta section (I buy mine at Sam’s Club). You can also use frozen tortellini, which is usually found in the frozen bread aisle, but you may need to heat it a bit more.  If you’re trying to follow a lower fat diet, add just a couple of tablespoons of butter instead.  Also, feel free to replace items too.  You might substitute chicken sausage, chicken broth and ravioli and see how it works.  Experiment…it’s fun.

We usually eat this with garlic bread or a salad.  On a day like today…it is yummy and SO satisfying!

 What is your favorite cold weather meal?