Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

This post is sponsored by ConAgra Foods.

We've officially hit that point in winter where I just want to curl up on the couch with a bowl of something hot and delicious, and binge-watch Netflix until spring. Please don't make me get up or go outside. I'm in full-blown hibernation mode now. Bring on the comfort food and reruns!

As far as I'm concerned, nothing beats a hot, creamy bowl of soup for winter hibernation food. This soup fit the bill so nicely: rich and creamy with a delicious tomato base, plus cheesy tortellini and sausage. Look, I even tossed some spinach in, to make my mother proud!

This hearty tomato goodness is so incredibly yummy, and perfect for a chilly winter night. I happen to think it is best enjoyed with reruns of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," a mug of hot chocolate, and the company of someone who finds Andy Samberg just as hilarious as you do. Bonus points if that someone won't make fun of you if you laugh too hard and spill soup on your pajama pants.

You'll start off by cooking some onion, garlic, and smoked sausage together. Then add Hunt's petite diced tomatoes (my favorite because they are so juicy and taste so fresh), tomato sauce, and a bit of water. Bring to a boil and stir in your tortellini, then add some fresh chopped spinach. A stir of cream and you're good to go.

This soup comes together so quickly and tastes just incredible. I love how thick and creamy it is. If you're concerned about calories, feel free to use half-and-half instead of the heavy cream to lighten it up a bit. But I say, hey, we're in the thick of winter. It's cream all the way from here until May.

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
13 oz. smoked sausage, halved and sliced
2 14-oz. cans Hunt's Petite Diced Tomatoes
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 19-oz. package frozen cheese tortellini
3 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1 cup heavy cream or half-and-half

Pour olive oil into a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and sausage, and saute until onion is translucent and sausage is browned. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, and spices. Heat and stir until simmering, then add frozen tortellini. When tortellini is cooked through, stir in the spinach and cook just until wilted. Add cream and stir to heat through; do not boil. Remove from heat and serve.

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What's your perfect recipe for winter hibernation? Any favorite comfort food and TV pairings that help get you through the winter?

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #NaturallyCheesy #CollectiveBias

Some of my favorite winter memories growing up are of my family eating dinner together on chilly nights, and more often than night, those memories have us eating some warm, hearty, filling soup. My mom has an awesome Broccoli Cheese Soup recipe that I can remember eating often (and it may have been the only time the kids in my family willingly consumed broccoli).

It's getting awfully chilly here lately, so of course I've been wanting lots of soup. I decided the other night to try putting a spin on my mom's tradition of serving broccoli cheese soup by making a hearty chowder with a cheesy base and plenty of delicious veggies: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and potatoes.

I really think there is just nothing that beats a thick, hearty soup on a fall or winter night. There is something so comforting and happy about digging into a big bowl of soup with a side of crusty bread to dip into it.

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

2 cups chopped broccoli
1 cup chopped cauliflower
2 cups diced red potatoes
1 cup diced carrots
1 small onion, chopped
1 1/2 - 2 quarts water (as much as necessary to cover veggies in pot)
3 cubes chicken bouillon
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
dash nutmeg
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups Kraft Natural Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Place all vegetables in a large stockpot and add enough water to cover. Add bouillon cubes, salt and pepper, and nutmeg. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Simmer 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a small saucepan. Add flour and whisk to combine. Cook 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, to remove floury taste. Slowly add milk, a bit at a time, stirring constantly until thickened and bubbly. Cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add milk mixture to stockpot, stirring to combine. Add cheese, a bit at a time, stirring well after each addition to incorporate and melt cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately, topped with additional cheese, if desired.

Want to make some yourself? Find the Kraft cheese in the refrigerated cheese section at Walmart!

Do you have a favorite winter soup recipe?

Thai Butternut Squash Soup

I’d be 100% happy to eat soup every day. This is an untested hypothesis, sadly, because Jeff insists that soup is not a meal (I wonder where he could have picked up that idea). There is less complaining if I also make rolls or bread bowls to go with it, but really, what special breed of whiner doesn’t appreciate a delicious homemade soup?

(He’ll be annoyed when [if] he reads this—he doesn’t actually complain about it, he just doesn’t get excited over soup the way I do. Mmmmm, soup. So warm and comforting and delicious. I don’t understand his ambivalence. Whenever I try a new soup recipe and ask what he thinks of it, his answer is invariably, “It’s good . . . for soup.” Always with the qualifier . . . for soup.)

Since he always loves and requests Asian food, I figured maybe an Asian soup would go over better. I forgot, however, that his least favorite soups--the very bottom scrapings from a category he dislikes overall—are pureed soups. Whoops. Needless to say, he didn’t love this dinner quite as much as I’d hoped, and I wasn’t able to make a soup lover of him with this one. I’ll keep trying.

But I loved it! I thought the Thai flavors were a delicious change from typical butternut squash soups (which I always like), I loved the combination of the crunchy peanuts with the smooth and creamy soup, and the cilantro and lime juice were just perfect with it. I’ll definitely be making this one again, even if I’m the only one who really enjoyed it. I was totally okay with eating all the leftovers by myself.

Thai Butternut Squash Soup
slightly adapted from My Recipes

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 1/2 teaspoons red curry paste
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 cup chicken broth
2 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 medium-sized butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and chopped (roughly 4 cups)
1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)

For garnish:
peanuts, coarsely chopped
fresh cilantro, chopped
fresh lime wedges

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat; add onion and sauté 3-5 minutes or until softened. Add curry paste, garlic, and fresh ginger; stir and cook 1 minute longer.

Add chicken broth, brown sugar, squash, coconut milk, fish sauce, and salt to the pot (start with 1/4 teaspoon salt and add more before serving if you need it). Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer 10-20 minutes or until squash is tender. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup (or transfer the soup in batches to a blender and puree—make sure to have the blender lid barely opened so the steam can escape).

Serve soup topped with plenty of peanuts and chopped cilantro, and top with a drizzle of fresh lime juice to taste.

(Jeff just walked by and asked what I was up to. I said typing up the post for the butternut soup we had the other night and he said—I kid you not, this is verbatim from his lips—“Yeah, that was pretty good. For soup.” Every dang time.)

Family Favorite Recipe:: Italian Sausage Soup

I always love hearing other families' favorite recipes--not just the ones that they made once or twice and really enjoyed, but the favorites that are all crinkled and splattered in their cookbooks, that get requested over and over again, and that everybody just loves. Those are the ones I'm the most interested in adding to my collection, because you know they must be well-loved for a reason! So I thought I'd share one of my family's favorite recipes--a chunky and delicious Italian Sausage Soup.

I've had this recipe for a few years and was ready to say that I don't know where it came from, until I googled it and, what do you know, there it is with over 1000 reviews on allrecipes . . . so I'm guessing that's where I got it from (can 1118 people really be wrong?) (well, yes, but not about this soup). We love it--it's a little spicy, a little sweet, really flavorful, and full of healthy veggies. It's probably more of a fall recipe, but I wouldn't turn down a bowl anytime (you can take that as an invite to pop by my place anytime and whip up a pot of this for me).

This picture certainly doesn't do this soup justice, but it's all I've got:

Even my husband, who insists that soup is not a meal, loves and requests this dish. And Forrest?

Forrest devoured it. I think he ended up eating more of it than Jeff and I combined. So I'm going to go ahead and give it a gold star for being kid-friendly. Toss in some garlicky breadsticks as a side dish, and this boy was in heaven.

Italian Sausage Soup

(original recipe here)

1 pound mild Italian sausage

1 clove garlic, minced

3 beef bouillon cubes, dissolved in 3 cups water

1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes

1 cup sliced carrots

1 (14.5 ounce) can Great Northern beans

2 small zucchini, cubed (I like to use one zucchini and one yellow squash)

2 cups spinach, torn

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

Brown sausage with garlic in a large pot. Add broth, stewed tomatoes, and carrots; season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes.

Stir in beans (with liquid from can) and zucchini. Cover, simmer another 15 minutes.

Add spinach, remove from heat, and cover for 5 minutes . . . serve!

We had it for dinner last night and again for lunch today--what probably should have been 3 or 4 days worth of leftovers is long gone by now. Who would have expected the breadsticks to last longer than the healthy soup? Not I. 

What are some of your family's favorite recipes?