Italian Tortellini Soup with Chicken Sausage

Italian Tortellini Soup with Chicken Sausage

Italian Tortellini Soup

Quick and easy…….easy and quick……..healthy-ish. That is what Italian Tortellini Soup with Chicken Sausage is…….plus all kinds of yummy!!!!!

Sometimes, time is of the essence…….or if you are like me………I’m just damn lazy sometimes! I know eating out is always an option, but truth be told, I would rather cook then get all ready to go out in public.

News Flash……..I am a gobber ! At home…..I’m a bona fide sweatpant, white muscle shirt,sports bra, no makeup, hair in a clip, girl gobber. In my early twenties, I lived to dress up. I never left the house without makeup, hair done……..I mean for Gods sake, someone might see me!!!!

Well……..I’m over most of that. I’m still  not crazy about going with out at least a bit of make up, and looking presentable. So, that’s why I would rather cook than go out and have to give up my gobber girl look. Besides……. easy or difficult I do love to cook.

After having the past few weeks go by in what seems to be a flash………Vegas……sick…….back to work….. still not feeling totally great……..I was ready for a easy quick recipe.

This recipes origin was from one of those supermarket cash register cookbooks, you know the ones at the checkout that beg to be bought while you are standing in line. The original recipe had Italian sausage, but in an effort to be healthy- ish and easy, I bought the Johnsonville chicken sausages…….3 cheese Italian. If you have never tried these, do! They are awesome and come in other flavors. Lower in fat and calories than regular sausage……..bonus…….they are pre cooked.

This is a really basic soup recipe, although it’s a little thicker than soup, not quite a stew. The ingredients are stuff you may just have in your pantry/cupboard already…….notice I added cupboard……..I only wish I had a pantry, and to those of you who do……lucky you!

Italian Tortellini Soup

Just your regular Italian spices, basil, oregano, fennel seeds, a pinch of red pepper flakes, some onion and garlic, add the sausage…….a couple of kinds of tomato, chicken broth to thin it out, simmer for 10 minutes,add the tortellini cook until al dente and oh la la……wait….that’s French, oh well it’s tasty is what it is.

Some fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese to top it off and serve with some garlic bread sticks or your favorite Italian bread.

It yummy, hearty, healthy-ish, warm, and best of all……. easy!

Italian Tortellini Soup Collage

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Italian Tortellini Soup

Italian Tortellini Soup with Chicken Sausage

  • Author: Marty Boyd
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 6 1x
  • Category: Soup
  • Method: Simmer
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 teaspoons coconut oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon basil,dried
  • 1 teaspoon oregano, dried
  • 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed,crushed
  • Pinch red pepper flakes
  • 112 oz. package Johnsonville 3 Cheese Italian Style Chicken Sausage,sliced
  • 19 oz. package fresh cheese tortellini
  • 128 oz. can crushed tomatoes
  • 114.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
  • 3 cups chicken stock
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley,chopped
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, for topping

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Sauté onion,basil,oregano,fennel seed, red pepper flakes,and garlic until onions are wilted and starting to turn translucent, about 7-10 minutes.
  2. Add sliced sausage and heat through. Add both tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.stir in parsley. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Keywords: chicken sausage, tomato, tortellini, soup, easy

Italian Tortellini Soup

Not Quite White Chili

Not Quite White Chili

Not Quite White Chili 1

 

How should white chili look? Does chili have to have chili powder to make it chili? This was the question Tim and I had before we went on vacation. I say white chili should be all white, Tim says chili needs chili powder to be “real” chili. Since this was Tim’s recipe, and we had differing options on what makes a real chili, we decided that it would have chili powder with white beans and white meat…..chicken……..and Not Quite White Chili was born.

It may not be the classic white or regular chili, but it was really good. Spicy, chili taste with a lighter touch of chicken and white beans. This chili also is good for you…… low in calories and fat. We served it with a nice loaf of rustic bread for a hearty cool weather meal that is sure to please.

Normally, I would go on a bit more that this but, as much fun as our vacation was, I brought back the flu. So, as all of you enjoy this Not Quite White Chili, I will enjoy some much needed bed rest……..

P.S………look for some of my takes on those Vegas recipes we shared from our trip.

Not Quite White CHili Collage

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Not Quite White Chili

Not Quite White Chili

  • Author: Tim Boyd
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 2 hours
  • Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
  • Yield: 6 1x
  • Category: Soup
  • Method: Simmer
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 pound dry northern beans
  • 16 cups water
  • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
  • 2 teaspoons coconut oil
  • 1 cup red pepper, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 2 pinches cinnamon powder
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions

  1. Place dry beans in a large bowl and cover with water. Let soak over night.
  2. In a large stock pot, melt coconut oil over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until cooked through. Add onion, red pepper and remaining ingredients cook until onion is translucent about 5 minutes. Add beans and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1 1/2 to 2 hour or until beans are tender. You can also place all ingredients in crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours.
  3. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and extra cilantro if desired.

Notes

Prep time does not include soaking of the beans over night

Keywords: chili, chicken, northern beans, simmer

Not Quite White Chili

Autumn Couscous Stuffed Peppers

Autumn Couscous Stuffed Peppers

Autumn Couscous Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed Peppers are a dish found in different forms, and with different names all around the world. Here in the good old USA, they are typically stuffed with a ground beef rice mixture with a tomato base. Recipes are all different, but most involve removing the seeds and membranes from the pepper, then boiling them, stuffing them, and baking them again, covered with cheese…….and they are great!

So, how do you improve on a good thing …….you make it better…….Autumn Couscous Stuffed Peppers!

We had a bumper crop of green peppers at the end of the gardening season……..beautiful shiny green and really large. They begged to be made into stuffed peppers.

Now, I suppose I could have made my good old Betty Crocker Cookbook recipe, but with the leaves changing and that smell of autumn in the air, why not try something……. autumny.

I’m am a huge fan of pearl couscous, and am lucky that our grocery store carries it in the frozen section……yeah! But for this recipe if you don’t have that luxury or you can’t find the pearl type, the regular kind will work just as well. The couscous was my sub for rice.

For veggies, I picked flavors I associate with fall……..fennel,squash,cranberries,and sage…….they blended with the couscous beautifully. Cooking all of it with chicken broth (if you want a total vegetarian dish you can use vegetable broth) and a touch of apple cider vinegar, gave it all a nice glazed quality.

Now, that whole boiling the pepper thing……..not so much. It makes them mushy in my opinion, and there is really no need to go to all that trouble. Just stuff them, and cover them with foil, it steams them instead.

Stuffed Peppers

Since the “stuffing” was not saucy, it needed a sauce…….my new favorite sauce…….Creamy Cauliflower Sauce. The only change I made was to use shallot instead of garlic. It was sooooo yummy over these Autumn Couscous Stuffed Peppers. I keep trying to think of ways to use this tasty sauce!

Autumn Couscous Stuffed Peppers Sauce

When I started this dish, it was not my intent to make it vegetarian, it just sorta happened. Lucky for all you vegetarians out there…..wait a minute, also lucky for those who are not………and if you are not, maybe after you try this dish you will be……….

Autumn Couscous Stuffed Peppers Collage

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Autumn Couscous Stuffed Peppers

Autumn Couscous Stuffed Peppers

  • Author: Marty Boyd
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Main Dish
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 cups cooked pearl couscous
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • 1 shallot, diced, about 2 tablespoons
  • 1 fennel bulb, diced, about 1 cup
  • 2 ½ cups butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
  • 2 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
  • ¾ cup dried cranberries
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts toasted
  • 1 ½ cups chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • kosher salt and pepper
  • 2 large green peppers cut in half lengthwise
  • Creamy Cauliflower Sauce

Instructions

  1. Heat coconut oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the shallot and cook for 1 minute, stirring often. Add diced fennel and cook for another 5 minutes or until fennel softens. Add butternut squash, sage, cranberries, chicken broth, and cider vinegar and cook for 15 minutes or until butternut squash has softened and almost all of the liquid has cooked down. Season with kosher salt and pepper. Add couscous and pine nut to the mixture in the skillet. Stir to combine.
  2. In a baking dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, place the green pepper halves. Stuff the peppers with the the couscous mixture. Cover with tin foil and bake in a 375* oven for 30-35 minutes.
  3. To serve,place one pepper half on plate or in a shallow bowl and top with Creamy Cauliflower Sauce and garnish with chopped sage leaves if desired.

Notes

Pre time does not include making the Creamy Cauliflower Sauce

Keywords: couscous, fennel, butternut squash, cauliflower sauce

Autumn Couscous Stuffed Pepper Label