Italian Sausage with Tortellini

This soup comes from Is it Soup Yet? It is written by Dot Vartan. I used Italian sausage that was not in casing. I made the soup up to the point of putting in the tortellini. My choice is to ladle out the soup for a meal and then add the tortellini. That way you eat all the pasta at one sitting.  Then the next time we have it, I add more pasta and reheat what I need for that meal.  This will make enough soup for 3 meals of two bowls each time.  Try it!  It is a great soup.




Printable Version
Ingredients:
1 pound Italian sausage
1 cup chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 (13- 3/4 oz.) cans beef broth
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (28oz) can peeled whole tomatoes, cut-up
1 (15oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1 cup sliced zucchini
9 oz. package of fresh cheese-filled tortellini
1 medium-sized green bell pepper, chopped
Parmesan cheese
Method:
Remove the casing from the sausage. In a 6 quart stock pot, brown the sausage over medium heat. Set aside, reserving drippings in stock pot. Cook the onions and garlic in the sausage drippings for about 10 minutes. Add the cooked sausage, beef broth, red wine, crushed tomatoes, whole tomatoes, tomato sauce, carrots, basil, oregano, and parsley flakes. Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 30 minutes. Stir in the zucchini, tortellini, and bell pepper. Cover and simmer for 20 - 25 minutes or until the tortellini is tender. Sprinkle each serving with Parmesan cheese