Italian Sausage & Tortellini Soup

This fabulously comforting Italian sausage & tortellini soup made with cheese-filled tortellini.

It also has loads of spinach, chunks of Italian sausage, cannellini beans, lots of oregano and a rich and delicious broth.

It's easy to make but doesn't taste like it.

How to make Italian sausage and tortellini soup

1. Brown the sausage. The first step is to heat a bit of olive oil in a Dutch oven.
   • Add the ground sausage and saute, breaking it up as it cooks, until its lightly browned.
2. Add the garlic and spinach. Once the sausage is browned, add several cups of fresh spinach and garlic.
   • You're just looking for the garlic to become fragrant and the spinach to slightly wilt.
   • This step should only take 30-60 seconds.
3. Stir in the beans. Be sure to rinse them first if using canned, then add them to the pot
4. Add the flavorings. I use loads of dried oregano leaves, salt and black pepper and stir them in with the beans.
5. Add the stock. Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer.
6. Add the tortellini. If using fresh tortellini, it only takes a few minutes to cook.
   • You're looking for the tortellini to be al dente, just like cooking the perfect pasta.
7. Serve! Spoon into bowls and garnish with freshly grated Parmesan. YUM!

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Recipe Substitutions and Alterations

There are a ton of options for making this soup work for you based on your taste preferences and what you have in your pantry.

Here are some suggestions:

• For the sausage: You can use either ground Italian sausage or links.
  • If you use the links, simply squeeze the sausage out of the casings and discard the casings.
  • You can use mild or hot - whatever you like!
  • If you're looking to reduce the fat content in the soup, you could use ground turkey and add a teaspoon of dried fennel to give it that classic sausage flavor.
• For the spinach: You can use any leafy green vegetable.
  • Something like chopped kale, mustard greens or chard greens would work well.
  • You can also use frozen spinach if that's what you have on hand!
  • Frozen is just as nutritious as fresh.
• For the garlic: If you don't have fresh, you can use the jarred minced garlic instead.
  • Or, you can buy the frozen cubes of minced garlic and pop one of them into your soup.
  • I sometimes mince and freeze a load of garlic.
  • My method is buying a bag of peeled garlic cloves and popping them into my food processor and pulsing until it's minced, then transferring to an airtight container or Ziploc bag.
  • It'll keep in the freezer up to 6 months and easily scoops out with a spoon.
• For the beans: I use canned cannellini beans because they work well with Italian-inspired recipes.
  • You could also use navy, great northern or garbanzo beans/chickpeas.
  • You can cook your own beans from dry rather than using canned, if you'd like!
• For the stock: You can use store-bought stock (my favorite is Kitchen Basics) or you can make your own stock.
  • Whatever works best for you!
• For the tortellini: I like the fresh cheese tortellini from Buitoni, but any brand or variety will work.
  • There are a ton of flavor and ingredient options for fresh tortellini, I would just recommend one that pairs well with Italian flavors.
  • If you use frozen tortellini, you may have to adjust the cooking time.
  • You could also use any dried or fresh pasta instead of tortellini if that's what you have on hand.

Basically, you can make it your own in so many ways!

Fabulous soup recipes:

• Old-Fashioned Ham and Cabbage Soup with Potatoes
• Instant Pot Split Pea & Ham Soup
• Old-Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup
• Zuppa Toscana
• Loaded Cheesy Potato Soup
• Instant Pot Beef & Barley Soup

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