Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup

By FFPMaMMa

Ingredients

• 1 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1-2 onions, peeled & diced
• 6-8 cloves garlic, peeled & minced
• 2 lbs Italian sausage, remove casings & cut into bite size pieces (sometimes I use turkey sausage)
• 2 large cans diced tomatoes
• 16 oz can of tomato sauce
• 4-6 cups of beef broth
• 4 cups of chicken broth
• 4-6 carrots, peeled & diced
• 4-6 zucchini, diced
• 1 large package of cheese tortellini
• *Parmesan cheese, grated (optional topping)

Preparation

Step 1

In a large stock pot, over medium heat, saute onion in olive oil until translucent. Add garlic & saute 1-2 min longer. Then add sausage and stir until cooked through. Reserving the zucchini & tortellini, add remaining ingredients and bring slowly to a boil. When soup has reached boiling point, turn heat down to a simmer. Add zucchini & tortellini and simmer for 10-15 min more. Serve in large bowls and top with parmesan cheese.

*If you want to double recipe and freeze for later, this is an excellent way to save time. Just be sure not to add the tortellini & zucchini until after you have defrosted & returned soup to a simmer. Sometimes I use great northern beans (white beans) or whole grain macaroni instead of the tortellini. I usually freeze my soup in a large freezer bag (lay a piece of cardboard in your freezer and place freezer bag on top so it freezes flat, then you have more room in your freezer when you freeze bags like this. You can stack them or place them in freezer door upright after frozen). You can also freeze your tortellini & cut up zucchini right along side your soup so the meal is ready to go from the freezer!