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A bowl of Sausage Tortellini Soup with uncooked tortellini to the side.

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.