Italian sausage and tortellini stoup

I'm always looking for new 'one pot' recipes. They're easy to make, easy to clean up, and they seem to have a hearty quality to them--especially when you mop up the deliciousness with some bread. Yum indeed.

So I came across this recipe at Allrecipes: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/italian-sausage-tortellini-soup/detail.aspx. I'm a big fan of Italian sausage, and the idea of tortellini served in a soup appealed to me. Trader Joe's carries a tasty, cheap bag of dried cheese tortellini, so I decided to attempt it.

Of course, when I use Allrecipes, I pay close attention to the recommendations from other users. I also feel a bit more freedom to mix things up (as opposed to cooking out of cookbooks--I'm not sure if this is logical, but it's the way it is).

So, in the end, these were my ingredients (all from Trader Joe's):
1 package hot Italian sausages
Pot of pre-diced onions, celery, and carrots
3 cloves worth of minced garlic
1 yellow pepper, diced
3 small courgettes (zucchini), diced
3/4 cup of cheap red wine (3 buck Chuck)
5 beef stock cubes dissolved in 5 cups of boiling water
2 more cups of boiling water
Large can of plum tomatoes with basil
1 heaping tablespoon of tomato paste
1 bag Trader Joe's cheese tortellinis
Dried oregano and basil, to taste

Serve with crusty bread, chopped asiago cheese, and fresh Italian parsley.
Makes at least 6 gigantic helpings (more like 8 servings, especially when served with the bread).

If you compare my list to the original list, you'll notice that I changed measurements and even entire ingredients. I also amended the instructions, as follows:

1. Squeeze sausage out of their casings (this is good fun!) and cook over medium heat in a large stockpot.
2. Once browned, add the garlic and the pot of pre-diced onions, celery, and carrots. Cook for 5 minutes, or until soft.
3. Add the wine, stock, pepper, courgettes, tomatoes, and extra water. Simmer for 10 more minutes, to let the alcohol cook out of the wine.
4. Add the tortellini, tomato paste, and herbs. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the tortellini are soft.

There you have it: easy, peasy. The flavor of this 'stoup' (it's thicker than soup, so more like a stew or even a pasta dish) is quite deep and rich, thanks to the beef stock lurking in the background. Rory and I both really liked it and agreed to add it to our rotation. The leftovers are also lovely, as the sauce seems to mature and the tortellini completely soften and absorb the flavors.

Score: 8.5 out of 10