Slow Cooker Creamy Tomato Basil Tortellini Soup

By Thom7747

One of my favorite things to make is a good slow cooker soup recipe. They are easy, they have a delicious slow simmered flavor and they almost always equal less clean up, and I’m all about less clean up. This soup is probably one of the easiest you’ll ever make and you wouldn’t believe how amazing it tastes (especially considering it’s ease of prep).

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cup diced carrots (3 medium)
• 1 3/4 cup diced yellow onion (1 large)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 (28 oz) cans whole Roma tomatoes
• 1 (32 oz) carton vegetable broth
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnish
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 16 oz refrigerated three cheese tortellini
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• Parmesan, shredded, for serving

Details

Servings 8
Preparation time 15mins
Cooking time 375mins
Adapted from cookingclassy.com

Preparation

Step 1

One of my favorite things to make is a good slow cooker soup recipe. They are easy, they have a delicious slow simmered flavor and they almost always equal less clean up, and I’m

about less clean up. This soup is probably one of the easiest you’ll ever make and you wouldn’t believe how amazing it tastes (especially considering it’s ease of prep).

You may be thinking that the three carrots seems odd but it gives this soup some body, a light natural sweetness and it offers such a vibrant color to this soup so you don’t end up with something pale pink in the end. Other than that this soup is mostly tomato, which I believe the way a true tomato soup is meant to be. I’ve always been grossed out by the canned tomato soup, doesn’t it just seem to have an off flavor and too much sweetness? When I was little I disliked it so much that instead I’d just heat tomato sauce with a little water and eat that with my grilled cheese instead. Yes, that really was lacking in flavor but when you are a kid I guess that’s what you like. This however is full of flavor, the onions, garlic and basil offer just enough without taking away from the vibrant tomato flavor.

Me and my kids loved this soup (then there was my husband that hates tomatoes so he just picked out the tortellini, I was totally offended – just kidding). I was so glad I had enough left over for lunch the next day, it was a bowl of pure comfort for a cool day. I love that it’s actually very hearty and filling too. This one I’m going to make time and time…and time again.

This makes a slow cooker full so if you are only serving a few I’d recommend making 2/3 the recipe (using 2 cans of the tomatoes, etc). You can also reduce it to that if you have a 5 quart slow cooker because a full batch probably wouldn’t fit in that size.

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add carrots and onion and saute 3 - 4 minutes, add garlic and saute 1 minute longer. Pour mixture into a 6 or 7 quart slow cooker along with tomatoes, vegetable broth, basil, bay leaves, sugar. Stir and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover slow cooker and cook on LOW 6 - 7 hours or HIGH 3 - 3 1/2 hours.

Remove bay leaves then puree mixture well with an emulsion blender (or carefully in small batches in a blender. If your slow cooker doesn't keep all the moisture in well while cooking, you may need to add in 1/2 cup water or so at this point so the soup isn't too thick). Stir in tortellini, cover and cook on HIGH heat 15 minutes longer (or until heated through). Reduce heat to warm, stir in heavy cream. Serve topped with parmesan cheese and fresh basil.