Tortellini Sausage Soup

Tortellini Sausage Soup

3 links Italian sausage
4 cloves pressed garlic
1 onion, diced
½ c. water
2 15-oz. cans chicken broth
½ c. apple cider (don’t leave this out! I did once and it wasn’t the same…)
1 16-oz. can diced tomatoes
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 c. sliced carrots
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 medium zucchini, grated (great way to use your food processor if you have one)
2 tablespoons dried parsley

8-10 oz. package cheese tortellini (check the freezer section of your grocery store; if you can find it there, it will almost always be way cheaper than fresh tortellini. Also, Barilla makes a great dry cheese tortellini)
2 Tbsp. dried parsley (yes, that’s two tablespoons)

If you’re using link sausage, remove the casings and crumble into a large soup pot. To remove the casings, you can use a sharp knife to cut a slit down one side of the sausage and then peel back the casing.

Chop onion and add to pot with garlic and a drizzle of olive oil. Continue cooking until onions are translucent and your sausage is cooked. Your house will smell heavenly.

Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, juice, water, chicken broth, carrots, oregano, and basil. Cover and simmer for 1/2 hour. Add parsley and zucchini and simmer for another 15 minutes or so. Add the tortellini and cook until tender, and then serve with bread and freshly-grated Parmesan.

From whence it came:  My sweet as pie sister-in-law, Geralene, must really love me because for Christmas she gave me the new Our Best Bites Cookbook!

I've been having so much fun trying the recipes in this amazing cookbook!  I told you before that I really don't buy cookbooks anymore because you can find almost any recipe you want online.  But this book is worth having!!  Big time!  Thanks, Geralene!  Your gift hit the spot!!

Why it's blogable:  I have a talent.  It may be my only one but I do have this one.  I'm pretty good at recognizing a good recipe when I see one.  I can read the ingredients and pretty much know if it's gonna be good or not.  As soon as I read this recipe I knew!  And I was not one bit wrong.  I made this last Sunday and I ate the leftovers for lunch twice this week.  I would have eaten the leftovers every day but there were only two servings left over.  This soup is one of my all time favorites!  It is in on my top ten list of best soups ever!  (I don't really have a list like that but if I did, this soup would be on it.)  The flavor is great and it's easy to make.  Try it!!!  I beg of you!

Those wonderful Our Best Bites girls will give you step by step instructions here.  I've been trying to cook healthier, eat less and exercise more (so basically I'm pretty cranky!)  Just kidding!  About the cranky part.  Not about the healthier part.  That part is true.  I used sweet chicken Italian sausage that I bought at Sprouts.  Dontcha just love Sprouts?  Me too!  I made the butcher put his hand on this cookbook and swear the sausage wasn't really sweet.  He did and I trusted him.  He said sweet meant not spicy, and he was right.  And it was really good sausage.  And it wasn't in casings so I didn't have to deal with that ugly process.  Gross!!!  I bought the tortellini in the refrigerator section at the grocery store and it was so good!  Also, I didn't have any apple cider because I didn't remember to buy it because my brain is deprived of calories so I borrowed a packet of spiced cider from a friend at the very last minute (thank you Kerinda for saving our Sunday dinner) and it worked perfectly.  I was nervous to use it because it seems like such a strange ingredient, but I made the cider and added the right amount and the soup was fab so there ya go.  

Make this soup people!  It's a winner!

Click here to get the printable.

Hope you enjoy stirring it up!