I love Sundays at home during the fall! We’re so busy over the summer that we rarely just sit and enjoy our home but come fall, it’s nesting time. One of my favorite things to do on Sunday is to put on a big pot of savory soup and let it simmer away while we watch the Browns game. After the game, it’s dinner time.
Today’s recipe is probably our all-time favorite as far as my soup recipes go. I originally got it from the October, 1993 issue of Bon Appetit. Yes, I’ve been making it for 25 years and hope to be making it for 25 more. It’s just that good!

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Soup Ingredients

- 1 pound sausage, casings removed (see taste notes below)
- Spicy! The way we like it! Use chorizo or hot Italian sausage.
- I Like Some Spice. Use a 50/50 blend of sweet and hot or chorizo.
- Wimp. Use sweet Italian, but it just won’t be the same…
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 large garlic cloves, sliced
- 5 cups beef stock or broth
- 2 cups chopped tomatoes (about 3/4 pound)
- I use one 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained to save time
- 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
- large zucchini, sliced
- large carrot, thinly sliced
- medium bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 2 tablespoons dried basil
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 8-10 ounces fresh cheese tortellini
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Sausage & Tortellini Soup Recipe
Makes 4-6 servings. Easily doubles.
Saute sausage in heavy Dutch over over medium-high heat until cooked trough, crumbling with back of spoon, about 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to large bowl. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon drippings from Dutch over. Add onion and garlic to Dutch over and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. NOTE: Chorizo is pretty lean and I rarely had any drippings so now I just cook the sausage, onion and garlic all at one time.
Add stock, tomatoes, tomato sauce, zucchini, carrot, bell pepper, wine, basil and oregano. Simmer until vegetable are tender, about 40 minutes. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before continuing.)


Add tortellini to soup and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. NOTE: If there are just 2 or 3 of you and you are planning to serve this each night, only put in the amount of tortellini for one evening’s meal and add the rest the second night. Otherwise the tortellini will absorb too much of the soup broth.
Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into bowls. Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve.

Pair with a salad and Italian cookies or gelato for dessert.
Thanks so much for your likes, shares, and follows! Until next time,
I have this recipe and it’s always a hit! I used to make it for my church’s Soup Sunday and it was always the first to run out.
That’s so funny! Our church had a “Souper Bowl Sunday” that I would take this too and same thing – big hit!
This sounds so delicious! Perfect for the fall weather. Thanks for sharing!
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
Thank you! One of those recipes we always look forward to!
Can’t wait to try!!
Hope you do and hope that it’s a hit! Thanks so much for stopping by – always appreciate the support of friends and readers!