Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup

To celebrate the lovely cool, fallish weather yesterday, I made soup for dinner. Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup is hearty enough by itself for a meal with some grated Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top and some fresh, crusty bread served on the side.

The soup takes about 2 hours to make, and serves at least 4 people, but my husband and I usually get 3 dinners out of one batch of soup: so 6 servings. If you are more generous with the ingredients, you may want to add another can of beef broth, which will enable it to feed more people.

Locally I can get poultry (chicken and turkey) Italian sausage in mild or hot, in link or patty. Since I do not have a particularly hot tooth, the mild version is fine for me, and I get links. The sausage needs to be parboiled first, so put the links in a Pyrex bowl or casserole, prick them with a fork, cover them with water, and cook them in the microwave for about 10 to 15 minutes. My microwave is old, so if you have a newer one, it may take less. You don't want to overcook the sausage because it will get dried-up looking even in water. You could boil the sausage in a pan on the stove, if you prefer.

When the sausage is cooked, pour out the hot water, and put in cold to cool off the sausage enough for you to handle it. Cut the links in half lengthwise, then slice across to make bite-size pieces.

Ingredients:
3/4 to 1 pound Italian sausage (3 or 4 links), parboiled and sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Italian pepper (a mild, sweet pepper), deveined and seeded, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 (16-oz) can of diced tomatoes, with juice
2 (14.5-oz) cans of beef broth
1 teaspoon sugar
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups of diced fresh red and green bell peppers
2 cups frozen cheese tortellini

Directions:
1. Put a 4-quart pot on the stove, pour in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and set the heat to medium-high. When the oil shimmers, pour in the sausage and brown it.
2. Add the onion, garlic, bell peppers, Italian pepper and celery, and saute' until soft.
3. Add the tomatoes, broth, and sugar.
4. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes.
5. Keeping the soup simmering in the pot, in another pot cook the tortellini according to package directions.
6. Stir the cooked tortellini into the soup.
7. Ladle the soup into soup plates or bowls to serve. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

Buon appetito!

Adapted from a recipe in Peppers Hot & Sweet by Beth Dooley

A note about leftovers: the flavors are better-blended and more mellow after cooling and reheating, but the tortellini, or any pasta for that matter, tends to fall apart a bit, absorbing some liquid.