Cheese Tortellini Soup

It was, as I recall, a late-Monday-morning menu brainstorming session taking place in the Deli section of a large wholesale grocery store. We were pondering the approaching evening meal for about one hundred of our closest friends and the need for a third dinner option to fit nicely somewhere between Parmesan Chicken and three different pastas with a variation of sauces. At a point just after locating the Feta cheese and cherry tomatoes for the salad bar we landed on how to compliment those other fine offerings.

Tortellini Soup. Brilliant, simply brilliant.

~ Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 4 slices bacon
• 1 pound ground italian sausage
• 1 large onion, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1-2 teaspoons Italian Spice mix or Penzeys Tuscan Sunset
• 5-6 carrots, thinly sliced
• 1 head celery, sliced
• 1 28-ounce can Muir Glen Organic Crushed Tomatoes with Basil
• 1 32-ounce carton chicken broth (about 4 cups)
• 1 15 ounce can kidney beans
• 1 large container cheese tortellini

~ Method

Sauté the bacon and sausage in the oil, add the onion, garlic, carrots and celery for just a couple minutes. Stir in the spices. Add the tomatoes and the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to a slow simmer for about 30 minutes. Add the kidney beans and the tortellini. Cook for another 30 minutes until the tortellini is tender.

 ~~ With thanks to Handt Hanson and Connie Nagel