Recipe for Sausage, Kale and Tortellini Soup at Life's Ambrosia

“This soup sneaks up on you.” These were Ryan’s exact words shortly after we finished eating this. You see, he has this belief that soup isn’t that filling so he always eats two bowls. And despite my warning that tortellini, sausage and kale can be quite filling, he decided to eat two bowls of this. About 30 minutes later he was so close to a food coma that he didn’t care I was watching American Idol.

Being a broth based soup, the kind of broth that you use for this soup is pretty important. You may notice that I use two kinds of broth: chicken and vegetable. I love the combination of the two together but if you only have one or the other feel free to use only one kind. I also suggest using a low sodium broth because that allows you to control the amount of salt in the soup. Because you are using sausage in this soup, which can be kind of salty, the ability to control the amount of salt is important.

Sausage, Kale and Tortellini Soup Recipe

A tummy filling soup chock-full of sausage, kale and cheese tortellini.

Serves 4

Prep time: 10 min

Cook time: 30 min

Ingredients:

1 pound turkey Italian sausage, casings removed
1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 cups low sodium chicken broth
3 cups low sodium vegetable broth
1 bunch (8 - 10 ounces) kale, chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil
9 ounces fresh cheese tortellini
fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt

Instructions:

In a large soup pot, cook sausage over medium heat until browned, using a spoon to break the sausage into bite size pieces. Once browned transfer to a plate and set aside.
Reserve 1 tablespoon of pan drippings, if there isn't enough pan drippings add 1 tablespoon olive oil. To the pan drippings add onion and garlic, cook 5 minutes or until onion is softened.
Return sausage to pan. Pour in chicken and vegetable broth. Stir in kale and basil. Cook for 10 - 15 minutes or until kale is wilted.
After kale has wilted, stir in tortellini and cook for 5 minutes or until the tortellini is soft and warmed through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Ladle into soup bowls. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Responses to "Sausage, Kale and Tortellini Soup"

“
I love adding tortellini to soup. It makes it extra hearty. You might like this one:
http://twopeasandtheirpod.com/tortellini-vegetable-soup/
”

- Maria

“
I just started adding kale to soups and we have become fast fans. This sure sounds hearty and delicious for these cold winter days!
”

- Michelle

“
This looks and sounds awesome! We are going to try it tonight. Would you be able to comment: Do you think we could substitute spinach for kale? I’m not sure my family would eat the kale. If not, it’ll be an experiment :) .
”

- Tanja Fussell

“
Hi Tanja- I hope your family loves it. As a spinach lover myself, I think you could substitute spinach for kale. Spinach does wilt a lot faster than kale so I would actually add the tortellini to the soup first then after it becomes tender, add the spinach. The spinach should only take a couple of minutes to wilt. Hope this helps!
”

- Deseree