Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup Recipe

Tomato soup is acclaimed as a childhood classic, but the truth is, it's often very plain and bland, especially the store-bought kind. When you make it yourself, though, you can add a lot of flavor as well as embellishments like pasta, and such is the case with this creamy tomato tortellini soup.

As recipe developer Hayley MacLean describes it, "This soup is so delicious and creamy with a rich tomato taste and little bites of cheese tortellini goodness." She says that the use of diced tomatoes in addition to the pureed tomatoes and the tomato paste deepens the flavor, while the spinach and the basil garnish "add a wonderful freshness." if you like, you can even spice things up with a little crushed red pepper. While making this soup certainly requires more effort than simply opening a can, the prep work isn't too bad, and it will be ready to eat in under an hour.

For this soup, you'll be using three kinds of canned tomatoes: diced ones, pureed ones, and tomato paste. You'll also need an onion and some garlic, as well as a bay leaf and some Italian seasoning. You'll also need olive oil, vegetable broth, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, spinach, and heavy cream.

As regards these last two ingredients, MacLean says you can use frozen spinach in place of fresh, as this makes for "a great way to make this dish easy and cost effective." She also allows that half-and-half or whole milk could take the place of the cream to "lighten the recipe up" while still keeping it creamy.

Heat a pot on a stove burner set to medium, but be sure to add the oil before the pot itself scorches. Once the oil is in the pot, cook it until it shimmers, then add the onion. Cook this for about three to four minutes, at which point the onion should appear somewhat translucent. Add the garlic to the onions and cook them for another minute or so, until the garlic is fragrant but not brown.

Stir the cans of diced tomatoes into the onions (no need to drain them) along with the bay leaf, Italian seasoning, and (if desired) crushed red pepper. Cook the diced tomatoes for five minutes until they soften and release their juices, then stir in the broth along with the tomato puree and paste. Cover the pot with a lid, leaving it partly open, then simmer the soup for 15 minutes.

Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the cream and tortellini, then cook the soup for five to seven minutes, until the pasta is soft or at least al dente. Take out the bay leaf at this point, then stir in the Parmesan and keep stirring until it melts. Add the spinach, too, and cook until it wilts. Your soup is now done!

If you'd like, you can garnish this soup with fresh basil and/or some additional grated Parmesan. MacLean particularly recommends the basil, calling it "a classic pairing with tomato and cheese [that] adds the perfect herbaceous accent." She recommends serving the soup for lunch alongside a salad or perhaps as a starter course for a dinner of grilled chicken and garlic bread.