Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Soup Weather

It's a cold and rainy November day here. I'm sipping coffee and listening to some Christmas tunes on Pandora, (don't judge).  The one good thing about this kind of weather is that it gives us a chance to  make some real live comfort food and for a lot of us that means soup!  
This time of year I start longing for some new recipes, the old favorites are good, but new favorites are a must, and this soup is a new favorite.   
I hit up my favorite source for new recipes, Pinterest of course, and found this Tortellini and Sausage soup.  Really quick and easy and soooo good.  I made a few adjustments based on what I had on hand.  The original recipe calls for Italian sausage,  I had regular old mild sausage and it was delicious.  I cut the salt in half , used low sodium and home made unsalted chicken broth and in my opinion it was still a little too salty. I also used pesto in place of the chopped basil because pesto is chopped basil right? I served it with home made bread and butter and it was a meal fit for a king.  It's ready in about 45 minutes. Here is the recipe with my adjustments and changes.  I hope you enjoy this, it's going to be on the menu a lot around here :)

Tortellini, Spinach and Sausage Soup


1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 lb mild pork sausage (or Italian sausage)
1/2 cup diced onion
1 Tbsp minced fresh garlic
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes (or crushed tomatoes)
32 oz. Chicken broth
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped basil (I used pesto instead and it was delicious!)
1 teaspoon pepper
1 package tortellini
1 cup chopped fresh spinach


1. Heat a large, heavy bottomed pan over med-high heat. Heat olive oil  and add diced onion.  Saute until onions are soft.
2. Crumble sausage and garlic with the onion. Cook until sausage is no longer pink.
3. Stir in tomatoes, chicken broth, basil and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover. Let soup simmer for 20-30 minutes.
4. Add tortellini and spinach and simmer for about 10 minutes, until pasta is tender. Salt to taste.
5. Serve with shredded Parmesan.

This made enough for the two of us to have leftovers for Lunch and dinner the next night.  I found that the pasta absorbed a lot of the broth overnight so we ended up adding another can of chicken broth to the leftovers. It was just the right amount to bring it back to soupiness.  

What is your favorite soup? Have you tried any new ones lately?

20 comments:

  1. Yummy Kathy! I love onion soup, copy cat Zuppa Toscana from Olive Garden, old fashioned chicken noodle soup, broccoli cheese soup, tomato soup, beef barley soup, well really every kind of soup!

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  2. What is it about soup that is just so comforting. Thank you for all your suggestions for soup. This one looks amazing as well. Happy Wednesday!

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  3. I love lasagna soup, taco soup, and tomato soups, also chowders. My daughter-in-law recently made me some chicken noodle soup and it tasted so good to me...I never make a flavorful chicken noodle soup.

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    1. Had to return after hearing the weather report. Glad to reread and find that it is cold and rainy, not cold and snowy. I'm sure we all hate to give up this wonderful autumn too soon.

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  4. Hmmmm. I was just typing a message and it disappeared so you might hear from me twice.

    Your soup looks amazing. Soup and things that slow cook are so comforting. I think the smell as much as anything is so enjoyable. We make taco soup, potato soup, italian sausage and zucchini soup, and lots of chili. I love chicken based soups but my husband won't touch them. That sure puts a damper on soup cooking. Do you know how many soups have chicken?!

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    1. The original recipe for this soup called for vegetable broth rather than chicken broth. Your husband might find that more palatable :)

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  5. Hi Kathy,

    Goodness, I love soup and this looks so good.....will certainly try this. Thanks for the recipe.

    So good to meet you on Monday in Stacey's group.

    Barb :-)

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  6. Hey Kathy, I'm back again doing a test. I'm trying to incorporate my new email on the blog. Will you let me know if you receive this properly?

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  7. That sounds good, Kathy. I love to try new soup recipes, too. This sounds like a winner. Our favorite is chicken with wild rice! yum!! xo Diana

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  8. One of the best things about cooler weather is that I can eat soup everyday! I love soup....of any kind. This sounds and looks so good. I don't eat port so I would change out with chicken sausage. Looks so good!

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  9. This looks so good! Thanks for the recipe!

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  10. My favorite is green pea and ham soup. Oooo-la-la! Yours looks darn good, too.

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  11. You are right - it is soup weather. Your new favorite sounds so good. Think I will have to try it! I love a good tomato basil soup any day of the week, rain or sun.
    ~Adrienne~

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  12. ahhh, this sounds really good and is beautiful in the bowl.
    We do love soup around here...and chili...and especially love beef stew....with cornbread and butter...and big generous slices of onion....and sweet tea....and a cheesecake.....whew

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  13. Perfect timing...I currently have 2 chicken carcasses in my freezer!!!! This looks wonderful. thanks for sharing Kathy.

    Love,
    Janet xx
    The Empty Nest

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  14. Oh. My. Goodness - that soup! I love soups. It's always my "go-to" comfort food. I need to try this one! Thank you for the recipe.

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  15. This weekend it will finally be soup weather around here! It almost makes the cold worth it...almost! ;)

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  16. Perfect recipe for this time of year - pure comfort!

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Thank you for taking the time to say hello :)