Recipes

[ciao_bella]

This fall soup is creamy, but not too creamy and just right for fall or winter to warm you up on a cool day or night. Feel free to add some cooked ground Italian sausage meat to this soup.  Yum!

Creamy Tortellini Soup (about 4 servings)

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil 
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 onion , diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• pinch crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 8 ounces tomato sauce
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian Seasoning
• Salt and Black pepper to taste
• 8 ounces cheese tortellini (the refrigerated kind NOT the dried kind)
• 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cups fresh spinach leaves (packed)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half (heavy cream is better)
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves , chopped

Add oil and butter to a large saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir in the flour and cook for another minute.

Add the vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, and dried basil. Season with salt and pepper. Taste broth and adjust seasonings if needed

.

Bring mixture to a gentle boil and then add the tortellini. Cook for a few minutes, until tortellini are tender.

Remove from heat and stir in spinach, parmesan cheese, and cream.

Add chopped basil. Serve warm.

**   I like to add some cooked ground Italian sausage to this recipe for some added protein and flavor. Cook it with the onion in step 1.

CROCKPOT VERSION:

Sauté onion then add to crockpot. Add remaining ingredients except for tortellini, spinach, parmesan cheese, and cream. Cook for 4-5 hours, then add the tortellini the last 30 minutes. Add spinach, parmesan cheese, and cream a few minutes before serving.

[cheriere]

@ciao_bella 

This soup looks AMAZING!!!  Definitely a recipe I'm copying.  Thank you for taking the time to share it with us.😃❤️

[rockygems123]

@ciao_bella 

That looks amazing, will definitely be making this, thank you for posting

I'll be replacing the tortellini with Italian sausage, looking forward to making it.

[Happy2BHere]

Mama Mia! I can already tell that I am going to gain so much weight making your fabulous recipes! 

[QVCkitty1]

I love your recipes, and this one sounds great. The thing is I dislike cream soup, so I think I'll try it with the sausage but stick with the broth for the liquid. I think it will still be good. 

[bmorechick]

@ciao_bella  I have made this and it's absolutely delicious.  I have to triple the recipe for my crew, but it's inhaled with a tray of garlic bread to sop up the broth.  Time to start making soups again as weather unfortunately, turns cooler.

[ciao_bella]

---

@QVCkitty1 wrote:

I love your recipes, and this one sounds great. The thing is I dislike cream soup, so I think I'll try it with the sausage but stick with the broth for the liquid. I think it will still be good. 

@QVCkitty1  I'm much like you with my preference for brothy soups as opposed to creamy soups.  The thing I found with this particular soup, is that it contained so little cream that it really is not a 'creamy' soup.  For me, that little amount of added cream didn't make it creamy.  Instead, for me, it seemed to ever so lightly take the edge off of the heavy, slightly acidic tomato flavor.  

Having said that, I'm sure it will be just as good without the cream.  What's not to like with all these good ingredients!

[We rescue cats]

I make a very similar soup to this, in fact I made for dinner last night!!! It's similar but has Italian Sausage in it for a protein and I take great liberties with it! (LOL)

TUSCAN ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND KALE or SPINACH SOUP/STEW 

Makes 6-8 servings

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

5 Italian sausage links, cut into 1/2 inch sliced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 onion, chopped

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped carrots

2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seed-OPTIONAL

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes

4 cups chopped kale leaves

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

I too love you recipes!!

[bargainsgirl]

---

@ciao_bella wrote:

This fall soup is creamy, but not too creamy and just right for fall or winter to warm you up on a cool day or night. Feel free to add some cooked ground Italian sausage meat to this soup.  Yum!

Creamy Tortellini Soup (about 4 servings)

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil 
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 onion , diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• pinch crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 8 ounces tomato sauce
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian Seasoning
• Salt and Black pepper to taste
• 8 ounces cheese tortellini (the refrigerated kind NOT the dried kind)
• 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cups fresh spinach leaves (packed)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half (heavy cream is better)
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves , chopped

Add oil and butter to a large saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir in the flour and cook for another minute.

Add the vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, and dried basil. Season with salt and pepper. Taste broth and adjust seasonings if needed

.

Bring mixture to a gentle boil and then add the tortellini. Cook for a few minutes, until tortellini are tender.

Remove from heat and stir in spinach, parmesan cheese, and cream.

Add chopped basil. Serve warm.

**   I like to add some cooked ground Italian sausage to this recipe for some added protein and flavor. Cook it with the onion in step 1.

CROCKPOT VERSION:

Sauté onion then add to crockpot. Add remaining ingredients except for tortellini, spinach, parmesan cheese, and cream. Cook for 4-5 hours, then add the tortellini the last 30 minutes. Add spinach, parmesan cheese, and cream a few minutes before serving.

---

This looks and sounds delish!  I have found using 2% instead of cream or 1/2 1/2 works just fine too.