italian sausage soup with tortellini

if you make only one soup before spring fully takes hold, this is the one to make. seriously, make it.

i was looking for a recipe for a hearty meal kind of soup, and i've got to say that this one hits the mark. i've made it several times without posting because to be honest, i couldn't get a decent picture of it. with the new camera we got for christmas, food photos are much easier! (thank you, pat and tom!)

this soup is a bit time more time consuming than some dinners, but it's that easy kind of time consuming when you get to walk away for 20-30 minutes at a time and get something else done. (which is, of course, my favorite type of time consumption - being able to do lots at once.)

first up, the ingredients:

1 lb sweet italian sausage, casings removed (over here, i just use the ultra lean local sausage...and i can highly recommend going LEAN - it's still delicious!)
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups beef broth
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup red wine
4 large tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped (tip: slice a cross-corss on the top of each tomato and drop them into boiling water for a couple seconds. when you take them out, the skins will come right off)
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1/2 T packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 T dried oregano
8 oz tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups sliced zucchini
8 ounces fresh tortellini pasta (i usually use a ricotta-spinach version)
3 T fresh chopped parsley

now your to-do list:

brown sausage in a 5 quart dutch oven. remove the sausage and drain. if there are drippings, save a little bit and then saute the onion and garlic in them in the dutch oven. if you don't have any drippings, use the smallest amount of olive oil possible instead.

stir in the beef broth, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano, tomato sauce, and sausage. bring to a boil then simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

skim any fat from the soup (i don't get any with my lean sausage), then add in the zucchini and parsley. simmer covered for 30 minutes, adding tortellini in the last ten minutes or so.

depending on your beef broth, you may need a little salt.

and TIP: only add as much tortellini as you think you will consume in your first sitting. add any remaining tortellini the next night when you reheat it on the stove. (otherwise, the tortellini sucks up all the liquid!)

ENJOY!

spinach and sun-dried tomato pasta

if you ever need to whip something up quick, this is the recipe to use. the flavor to time ratio is working in your favor here. it's all about the sun-dried tomatoes so if you're a sucker for them (like i am) then jot this down:

ingredients:
1 8oz package of uncooked penne pasta (gluten-free if you're into that sort of thing)
3/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
12 sun-dried tomatoes (the kind that are soaked in oil), drained and chopped
2 T pine nuts
1 T olive oil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bunch fresh spinach, rinse and torn into bite-sized pieces (or i just used a bag of baby spinach)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

directions:
cook penne according to its instructions and set aside. (make it al dente - don't overcook it!) in a skillet over medium heat, lightly toast the pine nuts and set aside. heat the olive oil with the red pepper flakes and saute the garlic for about a minute, until tender. mix in the spinach and cook until just about wilted. pour in the chicken or vegetable broth and stir in the sun dried tomatoes and pine nuts. cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. toss with the cooked pasta. serve with parmesan cheese.

as usual, i found this recipe on allrecipes.com. you can see the original here. (i modified it slightly based on the ingredients i had on hand.)