Finding a balance between work, family, and the hotel can be challenging, especially when it comes to meal time. It’s always tempting to eat out, but that can easily ruin the budget. Plus, when you’re always on the go, it’s so important to find time to sit down as a family over a home cooked meal.
I find it helps to have delicious recipes at hand for quick, easy, cheap meals, just like this one! This is one of my favorite fall recipes, which I probably cook once every other week, if not more.
IT STARTED WITH A RESOLUTION
Back at the start of 2020, I made a New Year’s resolution to cook one new recipe every week. Phineas was only six months old and the hotel wasn’t even a thought, but I wanted to create a list of recipes to be able to pull from when life got busy. This resolution was a little out of my comfort zone and proved to be challenging at times, but it was so fun and helped me learn my way around the kitchen.
MY AUNT’S TOMATO TORTELLINI SOUP
When I mentioned this New Year’s resolution to my family, my Aunt Jen was so excited; she told me to stop by sometime. She wanted to share some of her favorite recipes. (As it turned out, sometimes finding a recipe to try was the hardest part of the resolution.) Her tomato tortellini soup was one of those recipes, and quickly became a go-to recipe during the cooler months.
Not only is it quick and easy to make (like 30 minutes quick), but it is even toddler-approved (believe it or not, Phineas even requests this soup!).
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
Here’s what you’ll need to make the soup:
DUTCH OVEN
The most important tool for this recipe is a dutch oven (one of my favorite things to cook with!). If you don’t have one – or if you just want an excuse for one that matches your other fall decor -here’s a similar pumpkin-shaped dutch oven to the one I use!
INGREDIENTS
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion diced (this is optional, I leave the onion out because Dane and I aren’t big onion fans)
- 2 cloves garlic minced (I don’t normally have garlic cloves in the house, so I just use 2 teaspoons of jarred minced garlic and it works just fine)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth (I use chicken)
- 1 can 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 package 14 oz fresh or frozen tortellini (I use frozen, and I also recommend using a name brand here; I use Mona’s, but I’ve tried the Walmart brand and it definitely doesn’t take as good)
- ½ fresh basil leaves (for garnish)
- Parmesan cheese (for garnish)
HOW TO MAKE THE DELICIOUSNESS
Once you have all the ingredients, it only takes about 30 minutes to make!
- Melt the butter in a dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add onion, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook until tender, the recipe says about 6 minutes, but I’ve found that it usually takes less than that.
- Stir in the vinegar. Add the crushed tomatoes (include its juice) and broth. Bring this to a boil. This is the longest step; it usually takes a while for this to all boil and its during this time that I either wash some dishes, throw in a load of laundry, or since Dane is watching the kids while I cook, I might just take a little break and scroll on my phone (shhh… don’t tell Dane!).
- Once it starts boiling, reduce the heat and add heavy cream. Let this simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the tortellini and simmer until cooked through (about 3 minutes for fresh tortellini and 6 minutes for frozen).
- Remove from heat, stir in basil, and dinner is served!
MAKE IT EVEN BETTER
Want to take the meal to the next level? As good as this soup is, it gets even better paired with garlic breadsticks! (Dane says breadsticks make everything better, not just soup.) Get your favorite box of frozen breadsticks, and cook them in the oven while the soup heats up. It’s the perfect pairing!
ENJOY THE SOUP!
I hope this soup brings warmth into your home on a chilly day and sweet conversations around your table!
Kelsey is a Christian, mom to two little boys, and oh yeah, hotel renovator! She loves all things vintage and creating welcoming spaces for people to enjoy.
Sounds delicious 😋
It definitely is! I hope you get a chance to make it! 🙂