Divine! Sublime!! LOVED this soup!!! No changes needed though perhaps a suggestion? Use 6 cups of beef broth versus 5 and add only as much tortellini as you plan on eating at each serving. The soup literally sopes up the broth, so if you have leftovers (which are even BETTER the next day) you have no broth as the tortellini has absorbed it! Thanks to Mary P - my hat's off to you!!!!
WOW! Delicious! Everyone LOVED this soup and went back for seconds. I served it with the foccacia bread recipe from this site, YUM! Only thing I changed was used broth instead of water and added 1 cup of spinach. To make it more practical I just used 3 cans beef broth which is a little over 5 cups. 2 medium sized carrots equals 1 cup and 1 medium sized zucchini equals 1.5 cups. I used petite cut diced canned tomatoes, drained - about a can and a half was perfect! DO NOT add any salt to this soup - I used low-sodium broth and it was a tad too salty for me. Thank you for this great recipe!
This is one of the best soups I have ever made! Quick tip-to peel your tomatoes slice a criss-cross on the top of the tomato and drop it into boiling water for just a few seconds, drain them and put them immediately in an ice bath. The skins will come right off, and then you can cut them in half and squeeze the seeds out. This is a must make!
This soup is absolutely amazing! The first time I made it I used canned tomatoes instead of fresh and sweet Italian sausage... The second time I used hot sausage and took the time to peel/seed fresh tomatoes...it was worth it! The second soup was much better! I found the canned tomatoes to overpower the broth... and the hot sausage added a great kick! I want to make it over and over... serve with crusty bread and the rest of the bottle of wine ;)
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!! SERVE WITH CRUSTY BREAD AND BUTTER. CAN USE DRIED HERBS. DON'T ADD MORE SALT OR PEPPER AS IT IS SPICEY AS IS FOR MOST FOLKS. I THICKENED IT A LITTLE WITH A TB. OF CORNSTARCH BECAUSE WE LIKE OUR BROTH A LITTLE THICKER. ALSO USED 16 OZ. OF FROZEN TORTELLINI.
This is WONDERFUL. I have made this soup several times and it has turned out great every time. I have used both canned tomatos as well as seeding and peeling them myself. I don't think I noticed a distinct difference. Saves time to just used canned. This soup has great flavor - and is very filling. I have used it as the main course with some crusty bread!
I used 4 links of spicy italian sausage, used 2 cups of chicken broth for some of the beef becasue I had some in the fridge, omitted the water, used a shiraz for the wine & increased it a bit, used dry basil, used frozen squash slices for the zuchinni, added some frozen sugar snap peas (cut in half), used parmesan-filled tortellini & added additional liquids because I made some additions to the recipe. (talk about a run-on sentence...I can feel all you English teachers wincing! LOL) This made a huge pot so I pulled enough out to feed hubby & I & then added the tortellini to our portions. (I didn't want the tortellini to get sogged out if frozen in soup)...freezing the rest before the peas & squash were fully cooked. It should be good as new when thawed. Served it w/ some parmesan breadsticks, a glass of shiraz & a salad....thanks Mary P!
I thought this was just ok, but Hubs particularly liked this as it is indicative of the rich, tomato-based, boldly flavored soups he's so fond of. I loosely followed the recipe, but used fresh herbs and my own tomato sauce from my garden rather than the fresh tomatoes and canned tomato sauce. This is the sort of good old-fashioned soup that begs to be tinkered with, using whatever you have on hand so everything gets used and nothing goes to waste. So many vegetables would work with this and a a can of cannellini or ceci (garbanzo) beans would be nice too. This is a little more "robust" than I personally tend to like, but after one spoonful just to taste (we're actually having this tomorrow) Hubs said, "Oh ye-aah. This is just the way I like it."
Update: 6/11 I used wine (as the recipe calls for) for the first time. HUGE difference. The flavor is much more rounded. Don't pass on the vino!! Family favorite! The only difference is I cook the tortellini seperately and once I serve it into bowls I pour the soup over the noodles. Then the noodles don"t sop up the broth or get mushy. I always cook a double batch and freeze some. Although my family fights over who gets the leftovers so sometimes it doesn't make it to the freezer. :).
This was a good soup but it's not on my "favorites" list. I made this with hot italian sausage since that's what hubby likes. Mine turned out a little on the salty side, but I ran out of beef broth and had to add a little chicken stock...so that may have been why. I didn't have the fresh tomatoes so I used canned (which I like) and used a 6 oz can of tomato paste since I was out of tomato sauce. My husband enjoyed this and asked me to hold on to the left-overs for him. I like all of the ingredients that went into this soup, so I'm not sure why I didn't enjoy it more. I've been eyeing this recipe for a long time..so I'm glad I gave it a shot. Thanks Mary.
