Soup's On

It's been raining, the leaves are falling, and the air is a bit cooler. That means the beginning of soup season for us. I love soup, the kids love soup, and it such a satisfying meal with a warm crusty loaf of bread.

We ate this one the other night. I've seen a lot of variations of this but this is the one we like. It is a new family favorite and definately on our short list for soups.

Tortellini Sausage Soup

1 roll italian sausage

4 cloves chopped garlic

1 onion, diced

1/2 cup water

1 large can (39oz.) chicken broth

1/2 cup apple juice

1 16oz. can petite diced tomatoes

1 8oz. can tomato sauce

3/4 cup finely chopped carrots

1 TBS dried basil

1 TBS dried oregano

2 medium zucchini grated

3 TBS dried parsley

1 bag frozen cheese tortellini

Brown sausage, onion and garlic in a large stock pot. The sausage should crumble as it cooks. Cook until sausage is cooked and onions are translucent.

Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, juice, chicken broth, carrots, oregano and basil. Cover and simmer a half hour. Add parsley and zucchini and simmer another 20 minutes. Finally add tortellini and cook about 10 minutes.

If you would like this to be a freezer meal, make soup but leave out tortellini. When ready to eat, defrost and the add tortellini and cook it from there.

Enjoy.