Every year I look forward to this moment when two of my favorite seasons — the end of summer vegetable season + the beginning of autumn soup season — deliciously collide. That means it’s time for all of my favorite veggie soups!
And of course, minestrone is a must. ♥
This soup has been one of my comfort foods ever since I was a young pup. It was always served as an appetizer at the neighborhood Italian restaurant my family used to frequent. And even back in my ultra-picky-eating days when I was that girl who ordered a piping hot bowl of plain spaghetti (<– like, until high school), I strangely used to love the little bowl of vegetable minestrone that everyone was served as an appetizer. Sure, I occasionally picked out a green bean or two. But my mom was always amazed when the rest of that bowl — chock full of veggies, in a seasoned Italian broth — would disappear in a few minutes. Maybe it all just felt like eating soup, less than eating my veggies. But whatever the reason, mom loved it, and I sure loved it. And still do!
So this past weekend as I was surveying the fridge that was overflowing with tons of fresh veggies from my summer CSA, and as a cooler breeze was blowing in through the windows for the Labor Day weekend ahead, I knew in an instant what I wanted to make. Although instead of adding in a handful of regular pasta to the soup, I decided to toss in a bag of cheesy tortellini and see how that tasted. And I’m so glad I did.
This tortellini minestrone absolutely hit the spot.
If you’ve never made homemade minestrone before, it’s really quite simple.
Just saute some basic onions, carrots, celery and garlic together until soft. Then add in a bunch of tomatoes (I love fire-roasted) and tomato paste and stock to make a basic tomato broth. And then add in whatever other fresh veggies and beans sound good to you! I happened to have a ridiculous amount of summer squash in the fridge, so I went with that, along with a can of kidney beans (the classic choice I associate with minestrone!).
Then, in lieu of tossing in some macaroni at the end of the recipe, I decided to add in a few handfuls of spinach and a fresh bag of cheesy tortellini that I had in the fridge. You can use any kind of tortellini you’d like here, but I would wholeheartedly recommend going that route so that you get that nice, warm, soft, cheesy goodness added to your soup. (Did I mention this is comfort food?!) ;)
Then just serve it up, and sprinkle on some Parmesan or something as a garnish if you’d like (<– I happened to be out that day!). And this delicious, hearty, warm, comforting bowl of soup will be yours to enjoy.
I love this season!
Tortellini Minestrone
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium white onion, peeled and diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 2 (14.5 ounce) cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 (15 ounce) can dark red kidney beans
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 1 yellow squash, diced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2 handfuls fresh baby spinach
- 1 (10 ounce) package of refrigerated cheese tortellini
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, carrots, and celery, and continue sautéing for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the stock, tomato paste, tomatoes, kidney beans, zucchini, yellow squash, and Italian seasoning, and stir until combined. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes to let all of those good flavors meld together.
- Stir in the spinach and cheese tortellini, and cook according to package instructions until al dente (usually about 5-6 minutes).
- Taste, and season the soup with salt and pepper.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
I see this makes 8 servings. Can this be frozen to use at another time?
Hi Debbie! Yes, you can freeze this — we hope you enjoy!
Hi. Which stock is better for this soup the chicken or vegetable?
You can totally use either one, though we feel chicken stock has more flavor! :)
This dish was absolutely delicious! I left out the celery and added green peppers. It was a hit! :)
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Carmen! :)
This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try it. Do you have a preference between chicken or vegetable stock for this recipe?
Thanks, Veronica — we hope you love it! Honestly, we just use whatever we have on hand, but we will say we feel like chicken stock has more flavor.
Hi Haley,
Are you able to omit the red kidney beans? If so, any recommendations on to what to replace with it? Thank you.
Hi Julie! Yes, you can leave those out entirely or replace them with any other beans you like (we think Great Northern would work great). Just so you know though, this is Ali’s blog and all of the recipes are hers — I just help out with some things. :)
From its look, it’s lusciously irresistible!
Thanks, Jennifer — we hope you love it!
wow it looks tasty! the way you describe your dish full of love. i think this is a good combination of colors and flavors, just for autumn – the best season of the year. thanks for sharing, friend.
I’m a huge fan of soups, but sometimes my own version do get slightly boring – thank you for sharing this, I’ve never tried to cook a soup with tortellini! Will be my next attempt ;)
We hope you love this one, Anastasia! :)
Oh my god from the I took a look at this I knew I had to try it out and what better day for comfort food rather than Sunday so yesterday I picked up the missing items and today I went on and did it. The only small problem I had was with the timing I had to leave on for about 20mins more (maybe my carrots were cut up too big or my veggies not soft enough… I also added some flat green beans so that took a while as well
Anyway to just cut it short this was amazing… my son loved it had to reserve him twice and had to keep him down so that we could still have some left for me and hubby tomorrow. Even my daughter who is really difficult enjoyed this the tortellini did the trick… So it was agreed this makes our “do again soon” list :))
Thank you so much for sharing with with us, Anna! We’re happy you and your kiddos enjoyed this so much!:D
This looks delicious. Can the leftovers be frozen?
Hi Jennifer! Yes, you should be able to freeze this. We hope you enjoy!