Tortellini Sausage Soup

This recipe is from melskitchencafe.com. I just love her recipes and her pictures are absolutely beautiful so of course I want to make something that looks delicious. We had this for dinner tonight and Jev loved it (which says a lot because he hates soup). I do have to confess though that I didn't have some of the ingredients. No zucchini, no apple cider, and only half the chicken broth so it pretty much was just a pasta dish because most of the water boiled off but it was still delicious.


Tortellini Sausage Soup

*Note: If zucchini isn’t in season, you could easily sub chopped spinach or frozen peas here. Also, if you absolutely can’t find apple cider, try apple juice and in a last ditch effort, leave it out (although it does add a delicious hint of unique flavor).

*Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS:
3 links Italian sausage (the kind that is uncooked in casings – see note above)
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 onion, diced
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup apple cider
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup chopped carrots
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 medium zucchini, grated (no need to peel)
2 tablespoons dried parsley
8-10 ounce package refrigerated or frozen cheese tortellini

DIRECTIONS:
Remove the casings by slicing down one side of the sausage and peeling the casing back from the sausage. In a large pot, cook the sausage over medium heat until it starts to brown, using a wooden spoon to crumble as it cooks. Add the chopped onion and garlic. Continue cooking until the onions are translucent and the sausage is cooked through. Drain any excess grease, if needed (alternately, if your sausage is extra lean, you may need to add a drizzle of olive oil to keep it from sticking).

Stir in the chicken broth, apple cider, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, carrots, oregano, and basil. Bring the soup to a simmer, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in zucchini and parsley simmer for 10-12 minutes. Add the tortellini and cook until tender (usually only a couple of minutes, even when the packages call for 7-9 minutes cooking time, I only cook the tortellini for 4-5 minutes so it doesn’t fall apart). Serve immediately with freshly grated Parmesan, if desired.

Cheesy Broccoli Soup

This is a 5 star recipe from allrecipes.com, and an instant favorite for our family.

3 cups water
2 Tb chicken bouillon granules
2 bunches broccoli (or one bag frozen)
1/2 onion diced
2 cups milk
1/2 cup margarine
5 Tb all purpose flour
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese.

1. Bring water and chicken bouillon granules to a boil in a pot. Add broccoli and onion; cook at a boil until tender, 10-12 minutes.
2. Combine milk, margarine, flour, and cream cheese in a large pot over medium heat; cook and stir until the margarine melts and the mixture begins to thicken, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir Cheddar cheese into the milk mixture; cook and stir until the cheddar melts completely.
4. Pour the broccoli mixture into the cheese mixture in the large pot; stir well.

Original recipe can be found here. The only thing I did differently is I used butter instead of margarine, and about half as much called for.