Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup with Kale

Soup season is here, and this is one you’ll make over and over, it’s one for the whole family!

This soup has the protein from tasty and kicky Italian sausage, the fibre from kale and carrots, the cozy comfort vibes from stuffed tortellini, and a splash of cream for a bit more comfort.

I’m going to share my method below, which guarantees that even if you make more than you and your family will eat in one sitting, the pasta won’t grow and disintegrate in the liquid overnight.  This is especially important if you are using gluten free pasta, which doesn’t do well when water-logged.

The Ingredients

Sausage: As the name implies, you will need some sort of sausage.  I love Italian sausage for its flavour: that bit of chili flake, fennel seed and garlic are built in flavour.  But of course, feel free to use your favourite sausage meat that can crumble easy when sautéed in the pot. 

Yes, you could totally make this with turkey sausage, or beef. Even ground beef or chicken will work. Or if you have a favourite meatless meat and sausage that will crumble, you can definitely use this. You will just need to increase the seasonings to make up for the spices that are typically found in ready made sausages. And if the idea of sausage in any form just won’t go over, cooked brown or green lentils will work great- lentils and kale work fabulously together.  If you take the lentil route, a splash of vinegar or lemon at the end will be perfect.  And if you don’t want to use lentils, a can of rinsed white beans will be awesome!

Onion, garlic, carrots and chopped kale are the vegetables you’ll need. You can use your favourite kale, just chop the leaves down enough to make them easy to scoop up with a spoon as you eat. I don’t like to muddy the soup with more veg, or else the flavours get lost.  For more flavour, Italian seasoning, dried basil and chili flakes, along with salt and pepper are all that you need. As well as a tablespoon of tomato paste.

The liquid is stock, passata or tomato sauce of some kind, and a touch of cream at the end.  You can leave this out, or only use as much as you want, even a touch will add a lovely touch.  A little grated parmesan cheese stirred through will be enough to make the broth creamy, along with the actual cream.

Method

It’s a very straightforward soup.  You will remove all the filling from the sausages and brown them in a little olive oil.  As they cook down, crumble them into small bits with the back of a cooking spoon. Then the diced onion, minced garlic and sliced carrots are added.  The the seasonings go in and are stirred through.  Then add the stock and tomato sauce or purée. Let everything come to a boil and then reduce to a gentle simmer till the carrots are tender.  You are now nearing the end of cooking.  You will stir through the kale, and finish with a splash of cream.  Grate some parmesan cheese over the bowls and serve with a salad or crusty bread.

But Where is the Pasta?

Here is where my recipe will differ from almost every other recipe out there.  I never cook pasta in the soup. I learned this from an Italian neighbour back in my early 20’s.  To this day, the pasta, no matter if it is macaroni, ditalini, fusilli, tortellini etc, is cooked in a separate pot.  Once cooked through, drain it, toss with a little olive oil and store in a large bowl till needed.  Of course, you can time it so that the pasta will be ready when the soup is, which means you can spoon some pasta into each bowl, and pour soup over the pasta and stir together.

My reasoning for always doing it this way?  Say you’ve made the recipe, but for some reason it didn’t all get eaten as you expected.  Or you made the full batch, even though there are only two of you at home, so that you will have enough for two meals.  If the pasta is added to the pot of soup to cook, it will now be stuck in the soup, and stored in the soup in the fridge overnight.  The next day you will open the storage container, and the pasta is now large, reeeaaallly soft, almost falling apart, and the soup is really thick, because it has been absorbed by the pasta. Yuck.  This is especially true for gluten free pasta. Gluten free pasta isn’t cheap, so don’t wreck it by letting it sit in liquid overnight.

So, doing it my way means that any unused soup can be stored in one container, and the pasta in a separate container, and they can be reheated together the next day.  This gives you pasta that is still in its prime, and soup that doesn’t need to have extra stock added to it, so that it can still be called soup.

Having said all that, if you have four or five hungry people that you are serving, and you know the pot of soup will be eaten in one evening, go ahead and add extra stock and the pasta to cook together in the pot.

Final Thoughts

Feel free to replace the kale with spinach.  You don’t need to add any flour to get this soup to thicken, the sausage does add a little bit of binding as will the parmesan cheese, so when you add the cream, it will all stay together, not separate. 

All of my measurements are suggestions, if you want more carrots, kale, seasoning etc, you go for it!

If you would rather use half and half, or even whole milk, that’s fine. 

I suggest tortellini, since it is a hearty filled pasta, making a bowl of this soup substantial enough for a meal.  But if you want to make it a tad lighter, feel free to use any small dried pasta of your choice.  I am partial to fusilli or elbow macaroni as a nod to my childhood.

The soup on it’s own stores well in a sealed container in the fridge for a couple of days.  You can even freeze the soup.  If you know ahead of time that you will be freezing a portion, I would avoid adding the cream, since there is a chance that it will separate when it thaws.  But even if it did, a little more parmesan cheese as you warm the soup up again is all that you would need to bring it all back together. Definitely freeze it without the pasta (see above!)

Here are some more cozy soups for easy weekday meals: Bolognese Inspired Meatball Soup, Mum’s Cabbage Roll Soup, Gulaschsuppe, aka German Goulash Soup, Butternut Soup with Turkey Meatballs and Tortellini, Chicken Soup From Scratch

If you make this Creamy Sausage and Tortellini Soup with Kale, please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! It’s always lovely to hear from you guys, and I always do my best to respond to each comment or question. And of course, if you do make this recipe, and you post it on Instagram, don’t forget to also tag me so I can see! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is such a treat.

Love Jen

5 from 3 votes

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Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup with Kale

A cozy comforting soup that comes together in no time. Healthy veg, cozy pasta, and kicky sausage are combined to make a hearty but not at all heavy soup, perfect for weekday meals.

Course Soup

Cuisine Italian, North American

Keyword hot italian sausage, kale, tortellini

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 pound (450 g) Italian sausage, casing removed, see blog post for alternatives to sausage meat.
• 3 medium cloves garlic minced
• 1 medium yellow onion diced
• 1 medium carrot sliced into half-moons, 1 cup or a bit more
• 2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp dried chili flakes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 3-4 cups chicken stock, see Notes, can use vegetable stock as well
• 14 oz (398 ml) jar or can tomato purée or passata
• 1 (9-ounce, or 255 g) package refrigerated three cheese tortellini, see Notes
• 1/2 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves chopped, 3 cups or a bit more
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese plus more for serving

Instructions

Soup

1. Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Crumble in the Italian sausage and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, breaking it up as it cooks; drain excess fat.

2. Stir in garlic, onion, carrot slices, Italian seasoning, dried basil and chili flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the tablespoon of tomato paste.

3. Gradually stir in 3 cups of chicken stock and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced and carrots are tender, about 10 minutes.
4. Stir in kale until wilted, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in heavy cream and parmesan cheese until heated through, about 1 minute; season with more salt and pepper. Taste and re-season as desired.

Pasta

1. Meanwhile, while the soup is cooking, cook the pasta as per the directions, in a large pot of salted water. If you are using fresh pasta, it should only take 5-7 minutes. Dried pasta may take up to 8 minutes or more, especially if using gluten free pasta. When tender, drain and toss with a little olive oil, especially if the pasta is ready well in advance of the soup, or if you know you won't be eating all in one sitting.

Serve

1. Spoon some of the pasta into each bowl and top with soup, and gently stir together. Finish with some more grated or shredded parmesan cheese.
2. For other suggestions and pointers, please see the blog post.

Recipe Notes

If you know you will eat all the pasta and soup in one sitting, feel free to cook the pasta in the soup. In this case, add the fourth cup of stock when adding the stock to the pot. Add the pasta after the carrots become tender. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 5-7 minutes, till tender. Then you can add the kale and cream.
You can also use your favourite dried pasta, it will just take a little longer to cook. Aim for 4 oz of dried pasta per person.
You can replace the cream with whole milk or half and half. You can replace the kale with spinach.
Store unused soup in a sealed container in the fridge for a few days. Store unused pasta in a separate sealed container in the fridge. You can combine them to re-warm them the next day.

I say this recipe feeds four, but it can easily feed five, depending on appetites and how much and what type of pasta you choose to make.