Cheese Tortellini & Sausage Soup

Here is a recipe that I made a few nights ago.  It's very tasty if I do say so myself.  I used pork Italian sausage and didn't skim it enough as you can probably tell from the pic!  So, you can def skinny it up by using Italian turkey sausage.  Go a step further and make your own tortellini using low fat cheeses, if you have that kind of time of course. 

If you try it please let me know what you think!

Cheese Tortellini with Sausage Soup

 

 

 

Ingredients

3/4 pound  Italian sausage  Mild or Sweet Italian, remove casing

1 cup  onion -- chopped

1 clove  garlic -- minced

5 cups  beef broth -- I used 2 packets of knorr homestyle stock in 5 cups water

½ cup  water

½ cup  dry red wine -- or 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar & 1/4 cup water

28 ounces  chopped tomato -- I use Hunts garlic & basil or Italian

1 cup  carrots -- thinly sliced

½ teaspoon  lighthouse basil

½ teaspoon  Turkish Oregano -- I use Penzy's Spice

8 ounces  Tomato sauce -- canned

16 ounces  Cheese tortellini -- Fresh or Frozen, I use a 3 cheese blend with tomato, spinach and plain tortellinis from the refrigerated section of the store.

1 medium  Bell pepper -- red, yellow, orange or green, chopped

1 ½ cups  zucchini -- sliced lengthwise then sliced into half moons

Parmesan cheese – grated enough for garnish

Fresh basil leaves -- cut in ribbons for garnish.

 

Preparation Method

In a stock pot, brown the sausage over medium-high heat, about 5 minutes,

breaking it up with a potato masher and stirring often. Drain well leaving

1/2 tsp of the drippings in the pot.  Set sausage aside.

 

Reduce heat to medium, add the onion and garlic to the pot and cook until

tender, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid burning the garlic.

 

Add the broth, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, herbs, tomato sauce and

sausage.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer

uncovered for 30 minutes.  Skim the fat.

 

Add bell pepper, cover and simmer for 20 minutes more, stirring

occasionally. 

 

Add the tortellini and zucchini, simmer another 15 minutes or until pasta and zucchini are done,stirring occasionally. 

 

Serve garnished with parmesan cheese and basil ribbons and crusty bread.