Tortellini and Vegetable Soup

Tortellini and Vegetable Soup

This is one of my favorite soups to help fill my body with warm soup and a ton of healthy vegetables. This is green vegetable-packed soup is one of my favorites to have in the winter. 

Begin by heating some oil in a dutch oven and saute one chopped onion for 5 minutes.  Add about 5 cloves of pressed garlic and 1 tsp of thyme. Cook for about 30 seconds. 

Add 6 cups of chicken broth and 3 bay leaves, scraping off anything up any pieces from the bottom of the pan, and bring up to a simmer. 

 

Using my new Rachel Ray spoons that
rest on the side of the bowl! 

*** Before cooking the next step, you'll need to prep the zucchini. The seeds in squash can sometimes have a slimy texture in a soup.  If you choose a smaller zucchini, you'll have fewer seeds, or you can hollow out vegetable like 
shown here:  


Slice 1 zucchini into 1 inch  half moons. 






Add one package (9 oz) fresh cheese tortellini and zucchini. (note: I suggest a whole wheat pasta.)  Cook until pasta is barely tender - about 3 to 8 minutes. Remember that it will cook more as we continue to add ingredients.

 Add 1 pound of curly spinach, stemmed and chopped up and 1 cup frozen peas.  Cook until the spinach is wilted - about 3 minutes. 
(note: You can use kale in place of the curly spinach, but I wouldn't recommend baby spinach as it won't hold up as well in the soup.)

You can get NC organic produce shipped to you from Backyard Produce!

Remove bay leaves. Add in 1 tsp of basil (or 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil), and 1 minced clove of garlic (or a squeeze from the easy gourmet garden version). 

 Add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese or mozzarella  when serving.  Deeeeelicious!!! 

Nutrition: 1.5 cup serving: 170 Calories, 5 grams of fat. 

Original recipe from The American's Test Kitchen Healthy Cook Book. 

If you are interested in the Rachel Ray spoons, you can get them at Target, Bed,Bath,&Beyond, or buy on amazon.