Tortellini Soup with Italian Sausage & Spinach

• servings: 6 servings
• active time: 10 minutes
• total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 pound ground Italian Sausage

1/2 cup diced onion (about 1/2 medium sized onion)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes

32 ounces vegetable broth (chicken works too)

2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil

salt and pepper (to taste)

9 ounces refrigerated tortellini

2 cups packed fresh spinach

6 Baguette slices (about 1/3 of a baguette)

1 tablespoon Butter

2 tablespoons Freshly shredded Parmesan Cheese

Directions

Soup

Heat a large, heavy bottomed pan over medium-high heat. Heat vegetable oil and add diced onion. Saute until onions are beginning to softed; 3-4 minutes

Crumble Italian Sausage and garlic with the onion. Cook until sausage is no longer pink; about 4-5 minutes. Drain any excess grease.

Stir in crushed tomatoes, vegetable (or chicken) broth, basil, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Add tortellini and spinach and simmer for about 5-10 minutes, or until pasta is tender.

Garnish with shredded Parmesan and serve with a cheesy crostini crouton.

Crostini

Slice baguette into 1/2 inch thick slices. Butter one side and place butter side down in a hot skillet until golden brown. Flip bread slices over and sprinkle with Parmesan while the other side gets golden brown. Transfer to a plate and immediately cover loosely with foil if cheese has not completely melted.

Nutrition

• Calories: 534 kcal
• Total Fat: 33 g
• Saturated Fat: 13 g
• Cholesterol: 80 mg
• Sodium: 1654 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 40 g
• Dietary Fiber: 5 g
• Total Sugars: 9 g
• Protein: 22 g