Another Tortellini idea...

Sausage & Tortellini Soup

with Spinach

I ordered some mild italian sausage from our food company and needed a way to prepare it; I found this soup recipe & with the cold weather, thought I'd give it a try. Plus I'm on a new tortellini kick since I discovered the Buitoni whole wheat cheese tortellini (this stuff would be awesome with any kind of pasta sauce!) but it was especially good in this soup recipe.

The key to this recipe is in sauteing the onion and garlic in the rendered sausage fat to enhance the flavor of the broth--it rocks!

Ingredients:

1 TBS olive oil

1 lb italian sausage (sweet, mild, hot, whatever kind you prefer)

1 onion, chopped fine

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 C low sodium chicken broth

1 bay leaf (I omitted this)

1 9-ounce pkg cheese tortellini

3 C baby spinach (just eyeball it & add to your liking)

S&P to taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil in dutch oven over medium high heat--cook sausages, rolling occasionally, until browned all over (about 8 min). Transfer to paper towel-lined plate and pour off all but 1 TBS fat from the pot.

2. Cook onion in sausage fat until softened. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add broth and bay leaf, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to boil.

3. Cut browned sausages into 1/2 inch rounds and add to pot. Stir in tortellini and simmer over medium heat until tender, 6-8min (I cooked my tortellini separately, according to pkg directions & then added it). Stir in spinach until just wilted. Season with s&p. Serve.