Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup

A yummy slow cooker soup made with prepackaged tortellini and fresh mushrooms and spinach.

I love tortellini.  Filled pastas in general, really.  So I was excited at the prospect of trying tortellini in a soup.  I saw this recipe on BHG.com and tried it the other day.  I really liked it, but will make a few changes next time.  Here is my amended recipe.

Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup

Ingredients:

4  cups water

28 oz. chicken stock

1 ½  cups sliced fresh mushrooms

½  cup chopped onion

3  cloves garlic, minced

¼  tsp salt

½  tsp dried basil, crushed

½  tsp dried oregano

8 oz. prepackaged tortellini, dried or refrigerated, any variety (about 2 cups)

10 oz. fresh baby spinach leaves, torn

Parmesan cheese 

Directions:

In a 4 qt. slow cooker, combine water, mushrooms, onion, garlic, salt, basil, and oregano.  Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours or on high for 2 ½  to 3 hours.

Add tortellini and spinach. Cover and cook on low for 1 hour more or high for 45 minutes more. Dried tortellini will take longer than refrigerated.

Sprinkle individual servings with parmesan cheese. 

Makes 6 servings.

The original recipe made a creamy soup.  It called for a package of dry white sauce mix and evaporated milk.  But I decided that a clear soup sounded better (maybe because I have a cold!) so I omitted these.  I didn't have dried basil, so I left that out.  But I think it would be good, so I will use that next time.  The original recipe also called for ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper.  I think I will omit this next time.  I just don't see the need for this soup to be spicy.  

Remember to adjust cooking time according to whether you have dried or refrigerated tortellini.  I used refrigerated, Buitoni Herb Chicken Tortellini.  You can find that in the dairy case at the grocery store.  I will probably try it with dried next time.  I noticed that the spinach turned the broth slightly green.  I thought it was a bit unsightly, but Jim said it looked just fine.  Either way, I don't see how it can be avoided.  The original recipe called for 6 cups of spinach.  I didn't measure it out in cups, but I used a 20 oz. package.  I don't think it would have been 6 cups fresh.  I didn't look like that much.  Anyway, the amount I used was way too much.  Next time I will use a smaller package, 10 oz. or even 8.

Also, the original recipe says it makes four servings, but I think it made more than that.  So I'm going to call it six servings.

By the way, Lena loved this soup!  It amazes me how much she loves her green veggies.  She gobbled up that spinach!  It's so great how she will eat anything we give her.  

Leave a comment if you decide to try this soup!