Tortellini Soup with Chicken Andouille and Vegetables

It's gone back to winter weather here and was cold and windy yesterday, soup weather. I had been wanting to make a tortellini soup for awhile and had some Chicken Andouille sausages from New Frontiers market that I needed to use.

I had just seen a recipe for Tortellini and Vegetable Soup on the Williams-Somoma web site and decided to modify that.

This is what I came up with and my husband said it was possibly the best soup I'd ever made.

Tortellini Soup with Chicken Andouille and Vegetables

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 links chicken andouille, from New Frontier, crumbled
• 1 tsp thyme, dried
• 1 1/2 cups celery, sliced
• 1/2 whole onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 large carrot, sliced in half lengthwise then thinly across
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise then thinly across
• 2 large plum tomatoes, 1/2 inch dice
• 3/4 cup cheese tortellini, dry
• 1 tsp smoked paprika, Spanish sweet style. DO NOT use Hungarian Paprika as a substitute, you will ruin your soup.
• salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• parmesan cheese, to garnish (optional)

Method

1. In a 4qt. heavy soup pot heat olive oil until shimmery.
2. Remove sausages from casings and place in pan, breaking up with 2 heatproof spatulas or wooden spoons until crumbled.
3. Saute until browned and almost cooked through.
4. Add thyme, onion, garlic and carrots and sprinkle with a tiny amount of salt. Stir for about a minute and add celery.
5. Saute until vegetables begin to soften and onion is translucent.
6. Pour in chicken broth and bring to a boil.
7. Lower heat to simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes.
8. Turn heat back to medium-high and add tortellini. Cook for 5 minutes and add zucchini, tomatoes and smoked Spanish sweet paprika. Continue to slowly boil for 10 more minutes or until tortellini is just done (don't overcook).
9. Adjust seasoning with salt and freshly ground pepper and serve. (At this point I didn't need to add anything so be sure to taste it first.)
10. Ladle into bowls and top with a little freshly grated parmesan.
11. Serve with a nice crusty whole grain bread.