Garlicky Tortellini Soup, in Celebration of National Soup Month

There are few things more soothing than soup.

When your tummy is sick, or your nose is stuffy it's time for soup.

If your teeth hurt, you can still eat soup.

And when your heart is broken, soup might be just the thing to help it mend.

Of course you could argue that ice cream could do all the same things.

But this January and this is Maine and we prefer soup at this moment.

In fact, January is National Soup Month. So before the month is out, let's make some soup!

You could try my favorite lentil soup. For something more exotic, make the Coconut Curry Chicken Soup. And I promise a bowl of this creamy chicken soup will be good for whatever ails you.

Our soup special today is Tortellini. The amount of garlic will kill off any lurking cold germs and the spinach will give you the strength of Popeye. You can use any kind of tortellini you like, or even some mini-ravioli. Fresh or dried, meat or cheese filled. I do find that dried holds up better in the broth than fresh.

This soup is fast,  wicked easy and you might even already have all the ingredients at home. Which is a very nice thing if you live in one of the areas of the country in the deep freeze and you have no desire to leave your cozy home. 

Garlicky Tortellini Soup with Spinach

from Fine Cooking

2 Tbsps. unsalted butter

6-8 cloves garlic, chopped

4 cups lower sodium chicken broth (or homemade if you have it)

6 oz. fresh, dried or frozen tortellini

14 oz. can diced tomatoes, with their liquid

10 oz. bag of baby spinach

8-10 basil leaves, coarsely chopped

Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant,  about

2 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the tortellini and cook halfway, (about 5 minutes for frozen or dried, less for fresh). Add the tomatoes with their liquid and reduce heat to simmer. Cook until tortellini is tender.

Stir in the spinach and basil and cook until just wilted, 1-2 minutes. Add freshly ground pepper to taste.

Serve sprinkled generously with grated cheese.

Have ice cream for dessert.

On a sweeter note...World Nutella Day is coming soon! I'm taking suggestions. What kind of Nutella recipe would you like to see on Mignardise ?