Weeknight Tomato, Turkey, Spinach and Tortellini Soup

I had all intentions of making a nice crock pot soup this weekend, but then life happened and next thing I knew it was 3pm and a bit too late for a crock pot meal since our little one will lose her mind if she is not eating by 5:45pm and I hadn’t even gone to the grocery store yet!  I had pinned a delicious looking recipe for Tortellini Tomato Soup with Italian Sausage and Spinach from Yellow Bliss Road last week, and figured why not give it a shot!  It looked pretty quick and easy on paper, and it absolutely is!  I did make a couple of modifications, such as using turkey sausage versus pork and dry basil versus fresh because I forgot to grab it at the store.

Of note, Kristin also included an easy and amazing recipe for a Stovetop Parmesan Crostini within her soup recipe post that is officially going to be a staple in my kitchen!  I did that recipe in a separate post for ease of finding it again in the future.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ medium yellow onion, diced
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp basil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons red wine
• 1 package ~1 pound of sweet Italian turkey sausage
• 1-28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1-32oz carton vegetable broth (low fat, low sodium)
• 1 package refrigerated cheese tortellini
• 2 handfuls fresh baby spinach
• 2 cups water

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add onion, cook 3-5 minutes, then add salt, pepper and basil, continue sautéing until onions are soft, about 2-3 more minutes. 
2. Crumble turkey sausage into onion, cook until turkey is no longer pink, about 5 minutes, adding garlic for the last 30 seconds.
3. De glaze with red wine.  I used a nice Cabernet Sauvignon that we were drinking at the time.
4. Stir in crushed tomatoes, vegetable broth and water.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, covered until 10 minutes prior to dinner time.  The longer you simmer, the more flavorful it will be!!  Mine simmered for about 40 minutes this time.
5. Add in tortellini and spinach, cook 10 minutes.  *This is a great time to make the Parmesan Crostini, so it is all hot and ready to serve at the same time.
6. Top with grated Parmesan cheese. 

This made enough for my husband and I for dinner, 4-5 lunches and enough tortellini to serve a few to my little one for a few meals as well!