tortelloni vegetable soup.
There are a lot of great reasons to have a good vegetable soup recipe in your repertoire. One reason is that it is, of course, full of vegetables, meaning that you can fit a few servings of the good stuff in just one delicious bowl. Another reason — the one that usually drives me to make vegetable soup — is that it’s a really good way to use up all the random veggies at the bottom of your fridge. Swap any of the veggies in this recipe for another and you still have a really good soup. It’s perfect.
I’ll be honest, this recipe isn’t meant to be earth-shatteringly brilliant or even all that inventive. I just wanted to share what I think is a great way to make vegetable soup, with a collection of my favorite veggies, a touch of Parmesan, and a heaping amount of cheesy tortelloni. The recipe was actually modeled after minestrone and, for a long time, I even called it ‘tortelloni minestrone’ (creative, I know). I changed it because I had removed so many of the things that make minestrone minestrone that it felt disingenuous to keep the title. So thus, a simple iteration of vegetable soup with tortelloni.
The soup is warm, lightly spiced, surprisingly cheesy, and perfectly brothy. You can add other vegetables like cremini mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, corn, spinach, or even artichoke, and you can even add proteins like chickpeas or rotisserie chicken. To make this vegan, leave out the Parmesan rind and seek out vegan tortelloni.
Whether you make this recipe as written or with the whole kitchen sink, enjoy what I find to be the perfect way to make vegetable soup. Don’t forget to serve with crusty bread — I’m particularly fond of fresh focaccia, here.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup diced Spanish onion
2 large carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can green beans, drained
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (14.5-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
4 cups vegetable stock
1 Parmesan rind
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons dried thyme, or 5-6 fresh sprigs
10 ounces cheese tortelloni
Parmesan, grated, for topping
RECIPE
Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat.
Add the onion, carrot, and celery and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add the green beans, tomatoes, stock, Parmesan rind, salt, pepper, and thyme. Bring to a boil.
Boil until carrots are fork-tender, about 10 minutes or up to 30 minutes.
Add the tortellini and cook until soft, about 5-7 minutes or according to package instructions.
Add the kale and stir until wilted and bright green. Remove from the heat.
Remove any remaining Parmesan rind and herb stems.
To serve, top with grated Parmesan.
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