Tortellini Soup

I had a friend ask me for a recipe for soup or stew last week and this prompted me to look through my archive for ideas to send her. It was kinda nice, because I came across this recipe for Tortellini Soup. I had this recipe in the back of my mind when I was making the Chicken Enchilada Dip from last week and used the bones from my rotisserie chicken to make stock.

Gathering all my ingredients.

Look at that stock! Plus it's free, since I'm using bones from a chicken I bought for another dish. I cannot tell you how easy it is to make this. When I was making my dip, I put a stock pot next to me and all the bones went in as I was shredding my chicken. Then you add water, celery, onion, carrot, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, salt, peppercorns. Bring to a boil and let simmer for how ever long you have time for - an hour is enough but longer is better. Then you let cool and strain out the solids. I usually let refrigerate overnight and then I can skim off the fat that solidifies at the top. Much better tasting than the stock or broth that you buy from the store AND is cheaper AND you know what went into it. Ok, off my high horse now.

Here's the delicious soup - full flavor, lots of veggies, warming - great for a cold night. I used only baby bella mushrooms, since I couldn't find shitakis. Also I chopped the mushrooms up to about the same size of of the tortellini and added them to the initial veggie sweat. That actually made the dish faster to make, since I didn't have to boil the mushrooms for 20 minutes before adding the pasta. I also added kale since I had some that needed to be used.

And this makes a ton of soup! Invite your friends!