Mother Nature is teasing us mercilessly! We enjoyed the most beautiful weather for several weeks and then we had one last blast of winter hit us. Hopefully it’s the last blast of cold 🤞🏻and we get warmer weather sooner than later. We are so spoiled with warm sunny days for most of the year, so when we actually get “weather” here in Northern California it’s pretty exciting to see. Thunder, lightening and downpours are so exciting to watch! So glad to be able to watch it blow through from the comfort of my cozy warm house and not have to be out in it!!! It also made me crave one last bowl of soup to warm me up from the inside out.
If you still have a blanket of snow on the ground where you are at, and it seems like warmer weather is still a long way away, this creamy, hearty soup is the perfect bowl of yumminess to help chase away the last of those winter blues.
Not only is this soup delicious, it’s also very, very easy to make! You can substitute regular Italian sausage for the spicy version. I can highly recommend the spicy sausage. The heavy cream cuts the heat and the end result is not spicy at all. There is just a slight pleasing heat to this soup but it’s not overly spicy. You can also leave out the red pepper flakes it you desire a milder version of this soup.
This soup is rich and hearty and a meal unto itself. I serve it with a freshly baked loaf of French bread to round out the meal. Find out easy it is to bake bread with this easy recipe. This technique makes it easy to bake a loaf of fresh bread anytime you like. Once you give it a try and bite into your fist loaf of delicious home made bread your will be kicking yourself that you didn’t give it a try sooner!
Start by heating olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add hot the Italian sausage and chopped onion to the pan.
Sauté until onions are soft and sausage is cooked through; breaking up the sausage into crumbles as it cooks. Drain off any excess fat.
Add minced garlic, and cook for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant, stirring to combine with the onions and sausage.
Add Italian seasoning, paprika, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine and cook for 1-2 minutes, this allows the spices to “bloom”. Blooming the spices enhances their flavor.
Sprinkle flour over the seasoned meat mixture in the pan. Stir to combine and coat sausage/onion mixture with the spices.
Pour in the chicken broth and heavy cream. Stir to combine.
Increase heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a boil. Once the soup is simmering nicely, add the tortellini to the pan.
Stir to combine everything together. Reduce heat slightly but maintain a simmer for about 7-8 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
Add spinach.
If you have small baby spinach leaves, just toss them in whole. I have loads and loads of spinach growing like gangbusters in my garden. This recipe is a great way to use up some spinach. If you have extra large leaves like these, cut them into smaller pieces before adding them to the pot.
If you’re interested in growing your own spinach, read all about the soil mix I used to produce these beautiful monster leaves of spinach here! This is my very first attempt at growing a vegetable garden, and I am proof that you can successfully grow your own vegetables even if you have never tried to do it before.
Continue to simmer soup until tortellini are cooked through and the spinach has wilted.
To serve: ladle soup into large bowls and top each serving with freshly cracked black pepper and a sprinkle of freshly shredded Parmesan cheese.
Oh my goodness this soup is delicious!!! If you enjoy cream based soups you are going to love this hearty, rich soup. It’s so thick and creamy it’s more like eating a creamy stew than a bowl of soup! Each creamy spoonful is filled with savory sausage and tender cheese filled pillows of pasta. YUM!
Just between you and me, this is one of my all time favorite soups! It’s so very, very good! And I love how easy it is to make!
Sausage Tortellini Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb spicy Italian sausage
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tbsp flour
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes, optional
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 48 oz chicken broth
- 20 oz refrigerated cheese tortellini
- 3 cups fresh spinach leaves
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat.
- Add hot Italian sausage and chopped onion.
- Sauté until onions are soft and sausage is cooked through; breaking up the sausage into crumbles as it cooks. Drain off any excess fat.
- Add minced garlic, and cook for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant, stirring to combine with the onions and sausage.
- Add Italian seasoning, paprika, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine and cook for 1-2 minutes, this allows the spices to "bloom".
- Sprinkle flour over the seasoned meat mixture in the pan. Stir to combine and coat sausage/onion mixture with the spices.
- Pour in the heavy cream and the chicken broth. Stir to combine.
- Increase heat to medium high and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Once soup is simmering, add tortellini to the pan.
- Stir to combine. Reduce heat slightly but maintain a simmer for 7-8 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
- Add spinach. Continue to simmer soup until tortellini are cooked through and the spinach has wilted.
- To serve: ladle soup into large bowls and top each serving with freshly cracked black pepper and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
A huge shout out to Terri, owner of the blog Great Grub, Delicious Treats.com for the inspiration for this outstanding recipe! This one shows up on our table all winter long! Easy to make, and delicious to eat, that’s a winner of a recipe! Be sure to head over the Great Grub, Delicious Treats and check out Terri’s website! It’s chock full of wonderful recipes and loads of great pictures that will surely inspire you to try some new recipes.
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Romans 8:28
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