Fall is here! In northern California, the trees are still covered in green leaves and the temperature is in the 80s, but officially it’s fall. Halloween is just around the corner. Pumpkin-spiced <fill in the blank> is everywhere. I’m loving the candy at the grocery store. It’s one of my favorite times of year. And it’s soup weather. Then again, it’s soup weather year round to me!
This recipe is REALLY easy to make, but it feels like you’ve been working on it for hours. It’s especially tasty to those who love tortellini, like my family. It comes from delish, but I’ve added a few changes.
Time to prep! Chop up an onion. Slice up some cooked chicken sausages. You can really use any type of sausage you want so feel free to experiment. Mince a couple garlic cloves. Open a few cans: crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, and white beans. Having canned beans instead of dried makes this soup cook quickly. Measure out the red pepper flakes. Open packages of tortellini and spinach (see, you’ll get your veggies too!).
In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat some olive oil and start cooking! First, the onions. Then the sausage.
Add your garlic next and don’t let it burn. Stir in the tomatoes, broth, and red pepper flakes. Throw in some salt and pepper to your heart’s content. Are you seeing how easy this is?
Boil it and then throw in the tortellini.
Turn the heat down to medium-low and cook for about 5 minutes. The original recipe said 18-20 minutes, but that’s crazy. Your tortellini will be mush by then.
Add the beans and spinach and cook until the spinach is just wilted.
Scoop into bowls and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top. That’s it. Seriously.
I don’t think it can get any easier than that and it takes so much better than anything from a can. Serve with slices of warm bread and pretend you’ve worked all afternoon on dinner. The only downsize is that it doesn’t make very good leftovers so if you can’t finish it all (what?!), scoop out the tortellini and save in a separate container. Add it back in when you heat it up again. But never mind that. It’s so delicious you’ll not have any leftovers.
Tuscan Tortellini Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 medium yellow onion chopped
- 12 ounces cooked chicken sausage links sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 9 ounce refrigerated cheese tortellini
- 15 ounce canned white beans drained
- 5 ounces baby spinach
- freshly shredded Parmesan cheese for serving
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat, heat oil. Add onion and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add chicken sausage and cook until golden, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute more. Stir in crushed tomatoes, broth, and red pepper flakes, and season generously with salt and pepper.
- Bring to a boil and add tortellini. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tortellini is cooked, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in white beans and spinach and cook until spinach has wilted, 2 minutes more.
- Serve with Parmesan cheese.