Yesterday brought us temperatures colder than we’ve had in our area in 20 years! The schools were closed and no one wanted to go outside. Of course, what do you do on a cold day? Well, if you are me, you make soup! Soup for me is the ultimate cold weather food because it warms you from the inside out. My husband claims soup isn’t a meal so I also need to make sure whatever soup I make is really filling. That is how this spicy sausage and tortellini soup came about.
Adding items like cheese filled pasta and delicious sausage I think really helps make this soup hearty enough that even Mathlete will call it a meal. My son loved picking the tortellini out of my soup so it made everyone happy!
What You’ll Need:
2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
2 cups butternut squash, cubed
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes with juice
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup water
2 pieces Parmesan rind
1 1/2 cups sliced spicy Italian sausage {I used the presliced Johnsonville version}
1 1/2 cups uncooked dry tortellini pasta
salt and pepper to taste
Let’s Make It:
1) In a large pot or dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute for 3-5 minutes or until they begin to soften. Add garlic and thyme and saute for an additional 1-2 minutes.
2) Add butternut squash, tomatoes, broth, water and Parmesan rind. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 15 -20 minutes or until the squash is fork tender. Add sausage and pasta and cook for an additional 8 minutes. Remove Parmesan rind prior to serving.
Note: If you want to make this ahead of time, follow all the steps but don’t add the pasta. Reheat the soup and add the pasta 8 minutes before serving.
I served our soup with some crusty bread on the side but it is just as good all on its own. You could also go vegetarian and skip the sausage. I’d just throw a little bit of crushed red pepper in if you for the vegetarian version to keep the spicyness of the original.
What is your favorite cold weather food? Do you make soup a lot during the winter?
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
- 2 cups butternut squash, cubed
- 1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes with juice
- 4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- 1 cup water
- 2 pieces Parmesan rind
- 1½ cups sliced spicy Italian sausage {I used the presliced Johnsonville version}
- 1½ cups uncooked dry tortellini pasta
- salt and pepper to taste
- In a large pot or dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and saute for 3-5 minutes or until the begin to soften. Add garlic and thyme and saute for an additional 1-2 minutes.
- Add butternut squash, tomatoes, broth, water and Parmesan rind. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 15 -20 minutes or until the squash is fork tender. Add sausage and pasta and cook for an additional 8 minutes.
If you like this recipe, you might check out the recipes for other soups we love in our house:
Vegetable Quinoa Soup // Thai Butternut Squash Soup // Pumpkin Soup with Cinnamon Marshmallows
This post is shared at the list of fabulous parties found here.
This looks so delicious! I love tortellini and recently made a creamy tomato tortellini soup. I’m always one the search for another tortellini recipe!
Yummy that sounds delicious! I haven’t had tortellini in forever 🙂
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow
I am so glad you posted this recipe and the option to print. I am making this at some point. A nice warm soup on a chilly day is awesome
Oh I love that you added butternut squash to this! Nice and filling and healthy. Looks like a great recipe!
I am a huge fan of butternut squash so I try to use it when I can.
Mmmm. I never heard to add the cheese rind to the water, but the broth, but it must add a lot of flavor to the broth.
i adore soup in the fall and winter time. this looks SO good!
Yes, I love warming foods like this in the winter time. That looks fabulous and pasta is so feel-good. Great idea!
looks very good. I love hearty soups!
This soup looks wonderful and so full of flavor! I will be giving this a try!
That looks so good. I saw a recipe similar to this in a cookbook earlier today and thought I have to try this!
I love that you put butternut squash in that soup. Looks fantastic!
Oh you had me at “spicy sausage”!! YUM! This looks so so good, I HAVE to make this!
I think this looks so good, and I do not even like sausage! The Parmesan rind is too cool!
YUmmm.. this is going on my menu plan this week.. I’ve been wanting Tortellini soup for a few weeks now.. thanks for a great recipe, looks delicious.
Oh I hope you enjoy it! We liked it here in our house because of the mix of a little bit of spice and the cheese flavor.
I love tortellini and the sausage just makes it better! It was really cold here in Florida too; this is the perfect food for those chilly days.
This looks super delicious! I want to try this now! I love soups and I love spicy sausage, it’s always an ingredient on my pizza as well. Definitely have to make this.
This sausage is awesome because it comes pre-sliced so it would be perfect for adding to pizza!
We just made some tortellini soup this past week and it was SO good.
This looks amazing!!! My mouth is watering right now…..I’m trying this soon!!
I’m with you! There is nothing quite like soup on a cold day!! I am certain this warmed up your “inerds” and the house smelled GrEAT, too!
This looks elegant and delicious! Thank you 🙂
This is a cool and unique recipe. I have everything but he squash which I can pick up tonight when I get my son from the store where he works. Going to test it out for the family tomorrow!!!
I hope you enjoyed the recipe! Please let me know how it turned out 🙂
That looks so good!!
I agree with you, cold weather is for soup. Of course, I love soup anytime of the year! This spicy sausage soup looks like something my family would love.
I can see what he means about soup not being really a hearty meal. I think you definitely took care of that with adding the sausage and using tortellini. I love the cheese middle! This looks absolutely amazing! Thanks for sharing! xo
I love soup for lunch and sometimes dinner. I can definitely see what my husband means though about some soups not being hearty enough to really fill him up.
There is nothing that warms you up like a bowl of delicious hot soup on a cold day!
YUM! I am on a soup kick recently– going to add this to the rotation!
I love spicy and I love pasta so this looks like a home run.
This looks and sounds really good. I am always looking for new ideas that include pasta.
Yummy they have a soup similar to this at one of our favorite Italian Restaurants. I am definitely trying this recipe. My kids will flip.