Tortellini Soup

Tortellini vegetable soup.

As the Superbowl approaches, I am inspired to share this recipe because with some pigs in blankets (coming soon) it's perfect Superbowl fare, and easy to serve from a crockpot at a party.

As with most dishes, I start with a saute of onions and garlic, salt, pepper, and for this recipe a heavy dose of dried oregano. Sometimes for this recipe I'll include either ground sweet sausage or chopped bacon in as part of the starter. The version I made for this post is meat-free.

Celery and carrots are always included in this recipe and serve dual purpose as they flavor the stock, but are cut large enough to be noticed and stay tender crisp and not mushy. I always add some kind of beans; in this case, it was red kidney beans but anything goes, string beans, cannellini, lima, whatever your prefer. Just keep in mind that you don't want the beans to get all mushy so add them based on how long they need to cook. For fresh green or lima beans I'd wait until the last 5 minutes of boiling canned kidney or cannelloni are less likely to be impacted by a longer time cooking. I like to add fresh spinach and sliced zucchini as I did here, but I save them for the last five minutes as well so the zucchini stays firmer.

I boil the tortellini separately and add them when ready to serve so they don't over cook. If you're bringing a crackpot full to a party or serving from one at home, I would add the raw frozen tortellini to the crockpot when the soup is at a boil and let them cook in the pot, but I would also add 1 quart of vegetable broth or V-8. Yup this is one of those reasons to keep V-8 in the house for cooking.

Saute vegetables to start the soup.

Add V-8 when vegetables are tender.

SImmer until all the flavors meld together.

Add fresh vegetables that need little cooking and tortellini to the soup at the last minute.

THE RECIPE:

1/4 to 1/2 cup live oil (depending on whether you're using meat)

3/4c diced onion

4 cloves of garlic minced (for this post, I used roasted elephant garlic and mashed it in the olive oil)

3/4c chopped celery

salt and pepper

1/4c dried oregano

4 medium carrots sliced

8 large mushrooms cut into chunks

1/2c dry red wine

42oz bottle of V-8

1 can or 1-1/2c fresh beans of your choice

1c fresh baby spinach

2 small zucchini sliced

1 lb frozen tortellini

Grated parmesan cheese

1. Combine olive oil, onions, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper and meat (if using) in a large stock pot and heat to simmer

2. In the meantime cut carrots, celery and mushrooms keeping the mushrooms separate.

3. When the onion is softened and meat, if using, is browned, add the carrots, celery and red wine and cover to slow simmer for 5 to 10 minutes

4. Add mushrooms and canned beans and about half of the V-8

5. Simmer until mushrooms are tender.

   At this point you can stop and finish the soup later, or continue on for serving sooner:

6. Bring another pot of salted water to a boil to cook the tortellini , if you have cheese rinds saved, throw one or two in the water for flavor (just remember to fish them out before adding the tortellini to the soup.

7. While the water is heating and when the pasta is cooking, return soup to a hard simmer and add zucchini and spinach just before the pasta is floating (which it does when it's done cooking)

8. Strain the tortellini from the water and put it in the soup for serving with grated parmesan and crusty bread.

You can adjust the thickness of the soup with the remaining V-8. You'll definitely use it if you choose the crockpot-serve-later method below:

After step 5 let the soup sit and when you're ready to continue, add a quart of liquid, preferably broth and or V-8, and bring it to a simmer either on the stove or in the crockpot.

• If you reheated on the stove, transfer the soup to your crock[pot.

• Add tortellini, spinach, zucchini and fresh beans if using fresh ones and simmer until the pasta is done.

• At that point is can be served or kept on low in the crockpot for serving during your Superbowl party.