Italian Sausage & Tortellini

This week's recipe came from Epicurious.com. I chose it for a couple of reasons, one, it read like an easy, straightforward make and two, it had a good mix of vegetables. It was a really good soup and was gone in less than 10 minutes at work which is usually a good indicator. But, the verbal feedback wasn't over the top this time so either people weren't feeling effusive on Wednesday or the soup was really good but not over the top like the Hungarian Mushroom a couple of weeks ago. I did feel much better about the Sausage & Tortellini than I did about the Asian Mushroom and Noodle from the week prior. I had some leftover Asian soup and it confirmed my feelings about that one which weren't very positive. So noted.

One thing I am going to do this next week is take soup to other workplaces not just mine. A friend from my fitness boot camp, Helen, has been enthusiastic about my postings and the soups. She works at the church that our bootcamp uses during the winter months and she's convinced I could sell my soup to her coworkers there. So, I told her I'll bring in a crockpot full next week and see what happens. It's a chance to get more feedback and this will be from people I don't know. I'll write about what I learn.

The recipe below yields 6 servings. I should pay closer attention to prep time and cooking time but I'm always talking to Bertie and watching something on TV while I'm cooking so it is hard to judge the time. Some recipes include that information along with the number of servings but this one did not. The recipe below reflects a couple of changes I made to the original you'll find at Epicurious. I used a mix of sweet Italian and hot Italian sausage not just sweet. It made the soup almost too hot, almost. So if you're not a big fan of a spicy-hot soup, stick with all sweet Italian sausage. I used a mix of cheese and spinach tortellini that I picked up from this great Italian market here in Tucson, Roma Imports. Roma Imports is located amongst a bunch of industrial yards near the University of Arizona. I usually pick up a dish of lasagna to take home to bake for dinner and it is the best! Their stuffed olives are wonderful, I especially love the gorgonzola ones and the anchovy stuffed. The other change I made was the addition of butter to the sauteing of the onions and garlic. The original recipe calls for adding the onions and garlic to the drippings left from cooking the sausage after pouring off all but 1 tablespoon of the drippings. I must have gotten some very lean sausage because there was not enough drippings left in the pot to properly saute anything. I added a couple of tablespoons of butter to help things along. One other thing, I could have done without the bell pepper. I didn't like the bitter taste the bell pepper added.

I just realized as I was writing below I forgot to include the basil and oregano in Wednesday's soup! Geez, sometimes I wonder... Don't tell anyone from work please.

INGREDIENTS
1 pound of Italian sausage, a mix of sweet and hot, casings removed
1 cup of chopped onion
2 large garlic cloves, sliced thin
5 cups of beef stock (Costco is now selling Kirkland soup stocks, pretty good too)
2 cups of chopped fresh tomatoes, about 3/4 of a pound (whatever is on sale and looks good)
1 8oz can of tomato sauce (I prefer Muir Glen)
1 large zucchini, sliced (can't wait 'til summer when we have our own in the backyard)
1 large carrot, thinly sliced (coming this summer from our backyard)
1 medium-sized green bell pepper, diced with the the seeds and membrane removed
1/2 cup of dry red wine
2 tablespoons dried basil
2 tablespoons dried oregano
8 to 10 ounces of fresh cheese tortellini
Freshly grated Parmesan

METHOD

1. Saute' the sausage in a heavy soup pot over medium-high heat until cooked through, be careful not to overcook because some cooking in the soup will occur. Crumble the sausage as it cooks with your wooden spoon. Should be 8-10 minutes
2. Transfer the sausage to a bowl
3. Add the onion and garlic to the pot, adding butter if the sausage drippings are not enough to properly saute' the onions and garlic. Saute' until translucent, about 5 minutes
4. Return the sausage to the pot
5. Add the stock, tomatoes, tomato sauce, zucchini, carrot, bell pepper, wine, basil and oregano
6. Simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 40 minutes
7. Add the tortellini and cook until tender, about 8 minutes
8. Season to taste with salt and pepper
9. Serve with Parmesan sprinkled on top

Hungarian Mushroom

Yikes, I'm a couple of weeks behind in posting.

Last week's (2 March) soup was Hungarian Mushroom. One of my older brothers, Michael, sent me the recipe link from AllRecipes.com. Michael loves to cook as does my other older brother Richard. Of the four boys my parents had, three of us love to cook and I figure we got that from our parents, somehow.

I love mushroom soups so I was sure to try this Hungarian version. It was an

easy one to make and was a huge hit at work and at home! I got lots of "Best Ever" compliments with this one. What a great feeling!! I was talking with an acquaintance about why I get so much out of making these soups and before I knew it I had responded "Because the compliments and wonderful reactions at work make me feel so good". I had never said it out loud before but that's really what it comes down to. No question I enjoy finding recipes and imagining the process and how they'll taste. I also enjoy shopping for the ingredients and the actual preparation of the soups, measuring, cutting, stirring, seasoning, tasting, it's all good stuff and I get lost in it. But having people really enjoy the soups and how they look forward to "Soup At Work Wednesday" is the payoff.

For my version of the recipe below I made some adjustments to the recipe you'll find on AllRecipes.com. As usual I doubled the recipe to get a 7 quart result for "Soup At Work Wednesday". The recipe below yields about 6 servings or about 3-3.5 quarts. The original recipe doesn't specify a type of mushroom so I used a mix of portabella, button and shitake. I also added extra mushrooms, 'cuz I love 'em. Instead of milk I used half & half. Instead of parsley I always use cilantro. I love the sharp tanginess of cilantro much better than parsley. That's it for my tweaks. Onto the recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 2 cups of chopped onions (red, yellow or white)
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, any type, sliced
• 2 teaspoons of dried dill weed
• 1 tablespoon of paprika
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 2 cups of chicken broth
• 1 cup of half & half
• 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• Ground black pepper to taste
• 2 teaspoons of lemon juice
• 1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup of sour cream

METHOD

1. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Saute the onions in the butter for 5 minutes or until slightly transparent
2. Add the mushrooms and saute for 5 more minutes.
3. Stir in the dill, paprika, soy sauce and broth.
4. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes
5. In a separate bowl, whisk the half & half and flour together.
6. Pour this into the soup and stir well to blend.
7. Cover and simmer for 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. Add the salt, pepper, lemon juice, cilantro and sour cream.
9. Mix together and allow to heat through over low heat for 3-5 minutes. DO NOT BOIL!
10. Serve.