Tomato Tortellini Soup

This is what I made for dinner last night. I made everything in just one pot. It will serve six to eight. I made fresh yeast rolls to go with it. We were stuffed on one bowl each and two small yeast rolls.

1 TBSP Olive Oil
1 Large Tomato diced finely, most seeds removed
1 1/2 c. Coarsely grated carrot
1 c. frozen spinach defrosted, drained and chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp. Chili Powder (I use that in almost everything)
1 tsp. Thyme
1 tsp. Dry Basil or 6 fresh leaves chopped finely
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp salt
2 cups Chicken Broth
2 cups water
4 cups tomato sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch plus 2 tbsp cold water blended thoroughly.
2 packages fresh tortellini or tortelloni -I used one chicken and one four chees


Heat olive oil into bottom of dutch oven. Add tomato, garlic, spices, and salt. Cook over medium heat until tomatoes soften then toss in carrots. Saute mixture for 10 minutes. (Meanwhile you can boil and drain your tortellini and set aside to cool) Add spinach and simmer over medium heat for ten minutes. Add Chicken Broth. Increase heat to medium high. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring often. Then reduce heat to simmer. Simmer 10 minutes. Add tomato sauce and water. Stir to blend. Over medium high heat bring mixture to a boil stirring constantly. Add cornstarch mixture and stir constantly until returned to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for at least ten minutes. Add tortellini and cook until heated through.

The good thing about this recipe is that you can make the broth/base early in the day and then just warm it up and throw your tortellini into the pot about 20 minutes before you want to eat. You could probably even make the base a day or two ahead and add the tortellini the day you want to eat it.

I sprinkle fresh grated parmesan just when I serve it. If I had some fresh basil around I would garnish with a leaf. Buon Appetito!