Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup

This is the soup I had my eye on that I needed to make bulk sausage for.  It turned out really well.  The original recipe comes from www.twopeasandtheirpod.com.  I made a few changes to suit my family.  My husband claims that this is one of my better soups.  Enjoy!

Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup
Yield: 6 - 8 servings

Ingredients:

1 lb. homemade Italian Sausage (bulk), rolled into 1/4 teaspoon size balls
1 tablespoon olive oil (more if you used lean pork for sausage)
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 red bell peppers, diced
1 bay leaf
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
8 - 10 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 28 oz. can tomato puree or crushed tomatoes
2 cups chopped baby spinach
2 cups cheese tortellini (fresh or frozen)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  In a large skillet, brown the mini sausage balls until cooked through (use a tablespoon of olive oil, if necessary).  This should take about 5 - 7 minutes.  Drain off the grease and place the sausage balls on a plate lined with paper towels.

2.  In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat.  Add the onion and cook until tender, 3-4 minutes.  Stir in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.  Stir in the red peppers, bay leaf, and red pepper flakes.  Cook until peppers are soft, about 3 minutes.

3.  Stir in the broth, tomatoes and spinach.  Bring to a boil.  Add the tortellini and cook until tortellini is tender, 7-8 minutes.  Stir in the fresh basil and season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Stir in the sausage balls and heat until warm.  Remove the bay leaf and serve.

The Creative Cook

Homemade Italian Sausage

I found a recipe for a Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup that called for 1 pound of Italian sausage.  It sounded like a recipe that my family would love.  The only glitch was: the recipe called for the Italian sausage to be made into tiny meatballs.  Since I certainly did not want to take a bunch of sausages and squeeze the meat out of them, I planned to buy the Italian sausage in bulk.  I thought I had seen bulk Italian sausage in a grocery store before the holidays but, of course, it is no longer available.  I thought about it for a while and decided it would be a better idea if I made my own bulk Italian sausage.  After all, how hard could it be? Well, I ran out to the butcher to buy ground pork only to find out that our local butcher shop closes at 1 pm on Saturday afternoons.  Why? Who knows!  Anyway, I had my mother with me and she suggested that we buy some pork and have it ground at the local grocery store by the butcher.  Ahem...  no that does not work because we have been told that "they are no longer allowed to grind pork."  Why?  I assume because of the bacteria or something like that (possibly law suits).  I was convinced that I should just go ahead and buy the packaged ground pork ... until I took a look at it.  OMG!  It was almost entirely fat.  Yuck!  That was when my mother offered to take the pork and grind it herself in her KitchenAide Mixer that she has a meat grinder attachment for.  We had the butcher cut up the meat into strips which was supposed to make it easier. Apparently, my mom said it wasn't easy at all.  There was a bunch of gristle or something that kept clogging up the grinder.   Double yuck!  Now I know better.  I will go to the butcher earlier in the day and get my pork ground by them.  Anyway, here is the recipe I used.  It comes from www.kitchensimplicity.com.  It is written as a spicy Italian sausage recipe but it can be adapted to be mild or sweet.  Just reduce the pepper and increase the maple syrup to your taste.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE – HOMEMADE

Ingredients:

3 lbs. ground pork (lean is okay)

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon freshly ground pepper

1-1/4 tablespoons dried parsley

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon dried basil

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon fennel seeds (ground or whole)

¼ teaspoon maple syrup

1/8 teaspoon dried oregano

1/8 teaspoon dried thyme

Method:

Place all ingredients into a large bowl.  Mix together until evenly combined.  Divide equally into desired amounts.  Wrap each packet in plastic wrap and place into a large plastic bag.  Freeze or place in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours before using to let flavors combine.

The Creative Cook