Tortellini Soup

A recipe for the winter we are trying
to call late spring, early summer!

This recipe is one we got from our good friends, the Leals years ago. We use to eat this all the time with them and it was a staple on our quiet New Year's Eves when it would be just the four of us. We loved relaxing, chatting, snacking and watching movies and enjoying the "no party" aspect of it all. We kissed in the New Year in 2006 with them and Bill passed away at the end of the month from liver cancer. I can truly say New Year's Eve has never been the same since. We haven't even been in CA since then as it seemed to coincide with when we started our annual trips to Utah at Christmas Time. But anyway, this soup always reminds us of our happy times with the Leals.

You can brown a pound or two of the
Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage or use the
sausage links or put in some of each
as Jim did here.
You determine the "Hotness"
by what you select. And set aside.

Every good soup stock starts with
sauteed garlic and onions and fresh parsley, right?
We didn't have fresh parsley so we just
used the dried, who knew? It works fine.

Garlic to taste, we like a lot.

The base for 10 hearty servings is 8 cups
of water flavored with chicken or beef bouillon.
We use the chicken powder,
1 heaping teaspoon per cup of water or a little more.

Then add 2 cans of stewed diced tomatoes.

And one can of tomato sauce.

Add some basil, oregano and pepper
1 tsp or more as desired.

Chop up a green pepper,
add 2 cups of sliced carrots and
3 or four sliced zucchinis.
Jim quartered and then sliced them.

It is recommended on the recipe to cook the veggies in the stock without the sausage, tortellini or zucchini...however we just throw it all in and it works fine. Jim is far too rushed for such delays!

Here is the tortellini we used this time.

This is extremely yummy and delicious
with french bread and a salad.
If you try it let us know how you like it.

Ingredients list:
1-2 pounds of sausage
1 cup chopped onions
minced garlic
parsley
8 cups water
2 cups sliced carrots
2 cups sliced zucchini
1 chopped green pepper
1 tsp. basil, oregano, pepper
(we probably use more since we do not measure out teaspoons usually.)
2 cans stewed diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce

Cook until everything is tender and the tortellini is done.
Serve with bread or salad or whatever
you like to accompany a great bowl of soup.
Enjoy!