Sausage and Tortellini Soup

It’s soup season and soup season makes me very happy. This particular soup is incredibly flavorful and gets two thumbs up from my family, despite being made from just a few simple ingredients. If you keep fresh tortellini in the fridge and precooked sausage in the freezer, you can have steaming bowls of hot soup ready as little as 20 minutes.

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Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• 6 quart stockpot https://amzn.to/3Di9OSg

• beef bone broth https://amzn.to/3ZMGVFk

• beef stock https://amzn.to/3P1DlSK

• cannellini beans https://amzn.to/3BzxO2W

• cheese-filled tortellini https://amzn.to/3ZYiztJ

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Sausage and Tortellini Soup

makes 6 hearty servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 6 cup beef bone broth or beef stock

• 1 pound crumbled sweet italian sausage, cooked and drained

• 16 ounces frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, green beans, corn, okra, etc)

• 3 cups cooked cheese-filled tortellini

• optional garnish: grated parmesan, croutons (try my recipe), chopped scallions, chopped parsley

Directions

1. In a 6-quart stockpot, heat beef bone broth, cooked sausage, and vegetables until hot and bubbly.

2. Place 1/2 cup cooked tortellini in each bowl and top off with hot soup.

3. Garnish if desired and enjoy!

Notes

• To make this soup even more hearty, add a can of drained cannellini beans.

• To prevent the tortellini from getting soggy, don’t add them to the soup bowls until serving.

• Leftover soup and cooked tortellini should be stored separately to prevent the tortellini from becoming mushy.

• I like to keep portions of cooked sausage in the freezer so I can throw this soup together even faster.

Skinny Italian Sausage and Peppers

Everybody loves sausage and peppers, but let's face it, serving it on an Italian sandwich roll makes for a very heavy meal which is basically straight up man food.  But here's my lighter, low-carb take that is satisfying enough to keep your man, or anyone else for that matter, very, very happy.  And here's a bonus, you can make the whole thing in one pan.  Let me show you how it's done.

Start by heating some really good extra virgin olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed skillet or dutch oven over medium-high.

Add Italian sausage links - use hot or sweet (mild), whichever you prefer.  Today I'm using sweet.

Turn the sausage links so they brown on all sides.  If the links stick, they're not ready to turn.... don't force them... they will release when they're ready.  

Remove sausages from the pan when they're sufficiently browned.  They're not cooked through at this point, so don't be tempted to taste yet.

Next we'll add the peppers and onions to the same pan.  I love to use a colorful mix of bell peppers.  Also, if you want your onions to hold their shape well, cut them from pole to pole; if you want them to break down, cut them across the equator.  For this recipe, I like them to hold their shape so I cut them from pole to pole.

Add the salt and pepper too.  This will not only flavor the veggies, but it will help them start to release their juices, which will dissolve the browned bits the sausages left in the pan.  Mmmm, we're building lots of flavor here.  Stir every now and then until the veggies soften a bit.  

This would also be a good time to add a pinch or two of crushed red pepper flakes if you like.

Now it's time to add minced garlic.  Lots and lots of yummy garlic.

Oh man... this is going to be soooooo good.

And now dried oregano, just because.  Continue to cook, stirring often...

I'm dying here.  My kitchen smells amazing!

Alrighty - now I'm going to break tradition by adding a big, juicy, ripe tomato that I chopped into 1/2-inch pieces.  Get everything in there, seeds and all. 

Oh yes, it won't be long now.

Time to nestle those partially cooked sausages down into the onion and pepper mix.  

Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cover. 

Simmer until the internal temperature of the sausage reaches 165F.  

Just before serving, toss in some fresh basil and parsley which will add lovely color and amazing flavor.  Serve immediately over pasta, on Italian sandwich rolls, or just place one or two sausages on a plate and top it with a generous helping of the pepper and onion mixture. Enjoy!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• rondeau https://amzn.to/2MN8Y4s

• locking tongs https://amzn.to/2NInIRP

• instant read thermometer https://amzn.to/2LecqTH

• nakiri knife https://amzn.to/3ryht6D

• the best olive oil https://amzn.to/399wsKS

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Skinny Italian Sausage and Peppers

makes 3-4 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 5 or 6 Italian sausage links, hot or sweet

• 1 large white onion, sliced

• 2 large bell peppers, sliced (any color)

• 4 or 5 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed in the palm of your hand

• 1 large tomato, diced (optional)

• fresh chopped parsley and basil (optional)

• Italian sandwich rolls (optional)

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown sausage links in oil until brown on all sides; remove from skillet and set aside.

2. Lower heat to medium-low and saute the onions and bell peppers in the same skillet until the onions are translucent.

3. Add the garlic, crushed red peppers, and oregano; continue sauteing until the onions start to caramelize.

4. Add the sausage links back to the pan (and add the chopped tomato if using); reduce heat to low and cover pan until sausage reaches 165F.

5. Serve immediately over pasta, on Italian sandwich rolls, or just place one or two sausages on a plate and top it with a generous helping of the pepper and onions mixture.

Alternative Cooking Method:

• Here’s what to do if all you have on hand is frozen sausage. Place 1 cup of water and a steam rack into the inner pot of an Instant Pot. Place the frozen sausage links on the rack. Seal the Instant Pot and steam on “manual” or “high pressure” for 25 minutes. While the sausages steam, make the rest of the recipe in a skillet. When the sausages are done steaming, place them into the skillet and simmer for 5 minutes. The sausages won’t be as brown as the recipe above, but they’ll be extra tender.