Sausage Tortellini Soup

I made a new soup this evening which my friend, Annamarie, and I enjoyed so much, I thought I’d put it up for anyone else who would like to try it.

Sausage Tortellini Soup

2 Italian sausages (like the one’s that look like brats)
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 a package of sliced fresh mushrooms
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 hand full of baby cut carrots, chopped
1 1/2 cups (approximately) of cheese tortellini (I used the fresh kind, but you could probably use frozen just as easily)
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups half and half
1 Table spoon corn starch
Salt and pepper

Cook tortellini according to package directions and drain. While that’s going, in a sauce pan over medium-high heat, squeeze the sausage out of the casings, brown and chop as fine as you can. Dump the sausage into a bowl and return the pan to the burner, add the onion, celery, and carrots and cook until crisp-tender. Add the mushrooms and continue cooking until the mushrooms are reduced by about half and are tender. By this time, the tortellini should be done. If not, turn off the heat and keep it covered until it is. Dump the veggies and all the grease, juice, and scrapings from the pan into a pot and add the tortellini and sausage. Add the broth and half and half. Bring it to a low boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add pepper and salt as you like (you won’t need much if any salt since the sausage, tortellini and broth all have salt in them), Mix the corn starch with about a 1/4 cup of water and stir until it’s dissolved. Add cornstarch/water to soup and stir until it’s reached a good bread-dipping thickness. Remove from heat and serve.

Makes enough for 3 or 4 people.