Try this Italian Tortellini Soup recipe, or contribute your own.
- 4 cups water
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 2 tbs. tomato paste
- 1 lb italian sausage (if it is in casing take it out)
- 1 medium sweet onion
- 3/4 cup diced carrots
- 1 32 oz box low sodium chicken broth
- 1 can original rotel tomatoes
- 2 tbs. italian seasoning
- 1 tsp. each salt and pepper
- 19 oz package frozen cheese tortellini (i used publix br
- shaved or shredded parmesan cheese
- Carbohydrate 9.10431666685908 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.272821955423351 g
- Fiber 1.6686550707469 g
- Protein 1.2792333606654 g
- Saturated Fat 0.0681855159879528 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (425g)
- Sodium 28.8730946134425 mg
- Sugar 7.43566159611218 g
- Trans Fat 0.0949897974590704 g
- Calories 40 calories
Step-by-step
- In a Dutch oven or soup pot, over med heat, start browning you Italian sausage chopping it up as you go like you would ground beef.
- Once it starts browning throw in your onion and garlic and let it start to sweat for about 2 minutes you don’t want to let it brown.
- Next add the carrots. Keep tossing it around until the onions are opaque and the sausage is cooked through.
- Pour in the chicken broth, water, Rotel tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic powder and tomato paste.
- Let it simmer together for 30 minutes.
- Taste and add more salt if you wish, but keep in mind you are going to add Parmesan cheese which is salty as well.
- After simmering for 30 minutes add the frozen tortellini and simmer for another 10 minutes or until the tortellini is cooked through.
- Serve this Italian Tortellini Soup hot and top with Parmesan cheese. You can try it without but I promise you the Parmesan makes this dish.
Ingredient quantities provide proportions, but thermal dynamics dictate success. Breaking down the Italian sausage properly during the initial browning phase creates surface area for Maillard browning, yielding deep savory notes that water and broth alone cannot replicate. Sweat the onions and minced garlic only until translucent, exactly two minutes, because over-browning alliums introduces bitterness into the stock. Simmering the foundational broth for thirty minutes concentrates flavors through evaporation while softening the diced carrots. Determining doneness for filled pasta relies entirely on texture rather than timers. Frozen cheese tortellini requires ten minutes of gentle simmering until the pasta floats to the surface and the dough yields completely to gentle pressure between your fingers. Parmesan cheese acts as a crucial finishing element, providing both umami depth and a natural thickening agent when melted into the hot broth. Low-sodium chicken broth ensures control over the final salinity, counteracting the naturally high salt content found in both the cured sausage and the aged cheese topping.
