Minestrone Tortellini Soup

Now I normally stray away from recipes that use pre-made ingredients. This one does use packaged frozen tortellini but I made an exception because the reviews were so fantastic and it sounded so good. Like most recipes I use, I cut this one in half because it's just my boyfriend, Daniel and I eating. Cutting it in half still made plenty for leftovers. I served it with some leftover baguette that I sliced, drizzled with olive oil and toasted up in the oven for a few minutes at 450 degrees.

I love turkey sausage because I find that it turns out to be much more tender than regular pork sausage but if you want to try it, pork sausage could easily be substituted. 

Servings: 9   Prep Time: 20 min   Cook Time: 50 min   Total Time: 1 hr 10 min

The Ingredients: 

• 1 1/4 pounds Italian turkey sausage links, casings removed
• 1 large onion chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 1/2 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 cups thinly sliced carrots
• 1 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 2 cups sliced zucchini
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 2 cups frozen cheese tortellini
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

The Directions:

1. In a Dutch oven or large saucepan, cook the sausage, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the broth, tomatoes, carrots, celery, ketchup and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
2. Add the zucchini and green pepper; cook 5-7 minutes longer or until green pepper is tender. Stir in tortellini and parsley. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until tortellini is tender. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese just before serving.

The Nutritional Info:

1 Serving:

Calories - 278

Calories from fat - 68.1

Total Fat - 7.57g

Cholesterol - 59.53g

Carbohydrates - 32.49g

Protein - 19.44g

I got this recipe from: AllRecipes and I used livestrong.com to enter in the recipe's ingredients and find out the nutritional information.

This recipe is already pretty healthy and very filling but I think it would make a fantastic and less fattening vegetarian dish. Here's the modified recipe if you would like to try it with kidney beans instead of sausage and vegetable broth instead of beef broth.

The Ingredients: 

• 1 large onion chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 cups thinly sliced carrots
• 1 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 2 cups sliced zucchini
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 2 cups frozen cheese tortellini
• 2 cans kidney beans
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

The Directions:

1. In a Dutch oven or large saucepan, onion and garlic over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the broth, tomatoes, carrots, celery, ketchup and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
2. Add the zucchini and green pepper; cook 5-7 minutes longer or until green pepper is tender. Stir in tortellini, kidney beans and parsley. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until tortellini is tender. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese just before serving.