Rustic Italian Tortellini Soup

 Since soups fall under the category of " foods I'm able to eat," I made this for dinner the other night.  I'm still having a difficult time swallowing and ended up sticking my serving into the blender.... nummy.... pureed soup.  Seriously folks, this is getting old.

But at least there was flavor to be had and it met with rave reviews.  Even my grandsweetie had two bowls!  The original recipe is from an old Light and Tasty magazine and can be found here  I doubled the recipe and added a few other things.  This is definitely a keeper recipe that will certainly be on my soup rotations this fall. My husband, bless his heart, is becoming more brave with foods every year.  But since I love this guy so much.... so very much... I accommodate him by giving the tomatoes a quick whirl in the blender.  My broth turned out to be quite red because of that.  If you leave the tomatoes whole the broth will be clear.

Rustic Italian Tortellini Soup

adapted from taste of home magazine

Ingredients

3 Italian turkey sausage links (4 ounces each), casings removed

1 medium onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, grated

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each)  chicken broth

1-3/4 cups water

1 can (14-1/2 ounces)diced tomatoes with roasted garlic, undrained

1 can (16 ounces)  cannellini beans, drained and rinshed

1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini

1 package (6 ounces) fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped (I chopped mine more fine)

 3/4 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Shredded Parmesan cheese, optional

Directions

In a dutch oven or large soup pan, crumble and brown the sausage until it is no longer pink.  Remove the sausage from the pan and let the grease drain off onto a paper towel.  Safe just a slight remainder of the grease, in the pot, and drain off the excess; add the onion, carrots, garlic, basil, pepper and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are soft and onions are translucent.  Stir in the broth, water and tomatoes and bring to a boil.  Add the tortellini and cook for about eight minutes or until the noodles become tender.  Reduce the heat and add the spinach; cook until the spinach is wilted, about 3 more minutes.  Serve with fresh Parmesan cheese, if desired.

 Yield: 6 servings (2 quarts).

Sausage Quiche

Finally I can introduce soft foods into my diet.... Yeah!!  I made a quiche for dinner last night that was out of this world delicious.  At first I thought it was just my taste buds giving a standing ovation for decent flavor, but then the rest of the family gave it two thumbs up as well.  

Quiches only seem intimidating but are really quite easy to make.  I just think of it as an omelet in a pie shell. I didn't follow any recipe, just threw some items in with the eggs and put it all in the pie shell.  Since I made this for dinner I used pork sausage....an entire pound.  Not exactly the healthiest but it gave it more substance for the men.

I've been growing spinach and lettuce, along with other things, and was able to use the fresh items.  I was absolutely tickled to find this spinach leaf....How cute is that!

Sausage Quiche
1 pound pork sausage, cooked and drained of grease
1/2 onion, dice fine  (I used a sweet onion)
1 cup fresh spinach chopped
2 leaves of fresh basil, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups fat free half and half
1/2 cup cheddar cheese cheese  (I used a cheddar jack mix)
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
9-inch pie shell, unbaked   (I always make my own pie crust)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium frying pan, combine the onion and pork sausage; cook until browned.  Drain the sausage over a paper towel to get rid of some of the grease.

While the sausage is browning, make the pie crust. We like to use this pie crust from my blog.

In a medium bowl, add the eggs and half and half; whisk well.  Add the spinach, basil, salt, pepper, cheeses and sausage; mix to combine.  Pour into pie shell.

Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the center is set (not jiggly any longer) or knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Serve while still warm.

serves 6 to 8 people, depending on how big you slice the pieces.