Cooking With Clay: Tortellini Soup

November 11, 2020

With every day that goes by, the fall ushers in winter, and with that, soup season. I am a huge supporter of soups as a main course, and as such I find myself trying to make soup in every season. Now that it is finally an acceptable season to be talking about soup, I am here to share a recipe that you’ll want to keep in your back pocket.

This soup is as easy as it is affordable, and it’s incredibly versatile to substitutions if you don’t have all the ingredients on hand. As with any soup that I make, I start with the meat and veggies, and then I add in my liquids. Now that I have you on the edge of your seat, let’s get things started.

I have said it before and I’ll say it again, always prep your ingredients before you get cooking – I am mainly reiterating this because I frequently forget this step and get myself into a bind. Chop your carrots, celery, onions, and mince your garlic, then get a glass of water and wipe the onion tears from your eyes.

Heat a large stockpot over medium heat, add a few tablespoons of olive oil, and throw your sausage in. It helps if you break it up with your hands before adding it to heat to get those nice crispy browned edges, but if you have a thing about touching raw meat you can break it up with a wooden spoon.

Once you get the sausage on the heat, let it rest. We all want to stir it, but let it sit and it will get that browning we all want. The sausage shouldn’t take much longer than 7-8 minutes on the first side, then give it a stir to brown the second side. Once your sausage has browning all over it, set it aside and leave the oils for the veggies to cook in.

Add your garlic, onions, celery, and carrots to said oils. The idea here is to get these cooked just until they start feeling softer. They’ll cook more once we add liquid in and no one wants a mushy carrot. Cook these veggies until the onions are looking translucent – maybe about 10 minutes – then reintroduce your sausage.

This is where you can have a lot of fun with seasoning. I usually add a tablespoon of oregano, a couple teaspoons of rosemary, thyme, black pepper, and a lot more salt than you think you need. Let these flavors mingle for a minute or two, then add your chicken broth.

Keep this soup over medium heat and let it raise slowly to a boil. Once boiling, add your tortellini. These cook really fast, and if you cook them too long then they are prone to falling apart. It should be about 3 minutes, or until they’re all floating on the surface. Turn off your heat, and season to taste. Depending on the ingredients you use, the end product may need some tweaking with salt and black pepper. Recipes like this are so simple and can easily be a weekday meal as the whole process only takes about 45 minutes.

Serve it up and enjoy a bowl of warmth that will heat you from your head to your toes. This soup will leave you wanting to curl up with a blanket and watch a few episodes of that TV show you’ve been binging.

Ingredients:

1 lbs – Italian Sausage (I use hot, but use mild if you don’t like the extra spice)

1 – 20oz bag frozen cheese tortellini

4 – Large carrot sticks (rough chopped)

3 – Large sweet onions (rough chopped)

4 – Celery stocks (rough chopped)

2 – 32oz chicken broth containers

1 Tbsp – Oregano (season to taste)

1 Tsp – Thyme

1 Tsp – Rosemary

Salt – To taste

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