Soup's On!

(As I read that title back to myself I can hear my grandpa yelling those words down the stairs at dinner time.)

I'm not usually a fan of soup.  I love potato soup, a good stew, or my Grandma Taylor's Chicken and Noodles, but really broth-y soup just isn't my thing.  Usually its because I don't like the broth.  Well this past week, that changed.  There is now one soup, that's basically all broth, that I will devour.  In fact, I went back for seconds.

I don't remember what the inspiration was for this recipe.  I know I had recently watched an episode of Simply Ming where they made essentially a dumpling or pot sticker (I don't remember what they were called) placed in the bottom of a bowl and covered with a really flavorful broth.  I had also recently been looking up quick dinner recipes.  With Ellie crawling, getting dinner together is a whole new ballgame.  Once again I saw a recipe for Tortellini Soup.  I had tried to make Tortellini soup in the past, but the tortellini always ends up way too mushy, especially the leftovers (and there's always leftover soup).  So, I decided to make my own version of Tortellini soup with an Asian twist.  It was super fast and SO good!

Tortellini Soup

What you'll need:
-one bag of frozen cheese tortellini*
-olive oil
-cremini mushrooms, sliced**
-celery, 2-3 of the inside stalks, finely sliced
-red pepper flake, 1/2 tsp***
-one box of chicken or beef broth
-2 cups of water
-green onion
-soy sauce, 1 tbsp
-salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Cook the tortellini according to the package directions.  When they're done, drain (DO NOT rinse) and place in a bowl with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Toss to coat the pasta so it doesn't stick together.  Set aside.
2. Place a large saute pan on medium heat.  Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and mushrooms.  The key to good mushrooms is to spread them out in the pan and leave them alone for at least 5 minutes.
3. Add the celery and red pepper flakes, cook for another 5 minutes.  This is also when I add salt and pepper.
4. Add broth, water, soy sauce and green onions.
5. Simmer for 15-20 minutes.

To Serve:

-Place desired amount of tortellini in the bottom of your bowl.
-Ladle enough broth to cover the tortellini.

Leftovers

Store the tortellini in one container, and the broth in another.  I don't believe this recipe freezes well, but kept in the frig, it should last one week.  Nick and I were pretty generous with the tortellini, so it worked out to about 6 servings. 

Enjoy!

*This recipe could easily be made gluten free if you used a gluten free pasta.  I know I've seen gluten-free ravioli, so I'll have to see if I can find some gluten-free tortellini.
**Any mushroom would work, actually, this is just what we had.  Next time I want to use a mix of mushrooms.
***If you like spicy, add more.