Recipes and Cooking

Spin-on Tortellini Soup

Spin-on Tortellini SoupSpin-on Tortellini Soup

I love Tortellini Soup. Love it. So, today, as I was getting the stuff out of my pantry, I thought I would create a Spin-on Tortellini Soup. The broth is excellent! I did this in my instant pot, but it can be done on the stove.

Caution of warning, do not put your milk-based items in the soup before you seal the soup. You put that in AFTER it is done cooking, releasing the pressure. I made that mistake once, and I will never make it again.

Ingredients

Kielbasa quartered

Onion, chopped

Fresh garlic, chopped

Spinach, chopped (or kale)

Seasoning

Italian Seasoning

1 can cream of mushroom

6 tsp chicken bouillon paste

1/2 c. sour cream

2 cans of tomato sauce

1 Tbsp sugar

Water

Directions

In Instant Pot, saute the garlic, onion, kielbasa, and seasoning mix. Add a bit of water if it starts sticking to the pan. Once that is done, add in cream of mushroom soup; I think I did about 6 tsp of chicken bouillon paste. I will say, at this point, I added the sour cream and mixed it well. It did not explode, so that is a good thing. Then, I added the tomato sauce and the sugar. Next, add chopped spinach and Italian seasoning. I added enough water to thin it out just a little bit. You can always add more water towards the end.

Place on the lid, and move the lever to the “seal” position. I hit the soup function and adjusted it to 10 minutes. Once that is done, I did a quick release. I stirred everything well and tasted the broth to ensure the seasonings were good. A good rule of thumb is to start small. You can always add more, but you can’t ever take the salt out of something.

Bechamel Sauce

3 T. butter

Flour, 3 T.

Melt together while whisking.

Add a cup of heavy cream, and continue to whisk while on medium heat. The flour will thicken up. Once it was thick, I added in about 2 c. of cheddar. Stir well until it is all combined.

From this point, I added some broth to the bechamel pan. I did this to thin it out and make it to that it would incorporate easier into the soup.

Once incorporated and stirred, I added it to the soup.

Cue the angels, singing.

Tortellini

I cook these in a separate pot. I feel the tortellini get too mushy if I do the tortellini in the instant pot. Doing this serves a dual purpose. I boil the water, season it, and scoop out my tortellini. You can keep the starchy pasta in water. I add them to my Instant pot, and if I need additional water, I use the hot starchy water I cooked my tortellini in.

It’s good, people.

 

Recipes and Cooking

Low Calorie Cheesy Vegetable Soup

Low Calorie Cheesy Vegetable Soup

Low-Calorie Cheesy Vegetable Soup

This brings me SUCH joy. Please know that chicken would be excellent in this, and you can add whatever veggies you like. These are the items I had on hand. Also, this is a freezable recipe.

5 chicken bouillon cubes

Water

8 oz. Velveeta

10 oz. bag of frozen broccoli

1 container of fresh mushrooms or 2 cans of mushrooms

1 can of diced tomatoes

10 oz. fresh spinach (kale would be good too)

1 onion

Seasoning

2 cloves of garlic

I filled my soup pot (or Instant Pot) with water and bouillon cubes. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer.

Servings: 10

Calories 87 per serving

Tidbits

Low-Calorie Cheesy Vegetable Soup can be created with many different types of vegetables. The ones I used were simply the ones that I had on hand. It is such a comfort to me on bad or sad days. I could be full of joy and rapture and still have a cup of broth.

Some people in this world need many things to be comforted. A hug, someone to hold their hand, listen to them talk, or offer up some flowers. Luckily (for Big Daddy), that isn’t my jam. Buy me a bottle of bouillon, hand me a mug from the cabinet, and I am good. If you happen to throw in some good cheese, a purse, and a tattoo, I would be even better!