Chicken Tortellini Soup

I’ve talked before about how I’m not really a soup person, so I won’t bother airing my grievances again here. Well, just this one thing*: I’m not one of these people who can eat a bowl of soup for lunch and be content for the afternoon. I’ll be hungry an hour later for sure. I definitely need something a little more substantial, so I thought this would be a good soup for me, because you’re basically eating a bowl of pasta as well. This is filling, warm, comforting and everything I want in a January lunch. Bonus points because this is really easy to pull together on a weeknight, and actually tastes better and develops more flavour after a few days.

*One more thing: Please tell me how it’s possible to take a cute picture of soup!

Chicken Tortellini Soup

Source: Eat, Live, Run

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, minced

2 carrots, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 tbsp flour

2L chicken broth (buy organic, it tastes way better)

2 cups chopped rotisserie chicken (sometimes you can get half a chicken in my grocery store, I used that, it was the perfect amount)

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 pkg fresh cheese tortellini (get a good one, I used the generic store brand and it was not the greatest)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup half & half or milk

2-3 big handfuls spinach, roughly chopped (original recipe uses kale, but I always have spinach around for smoothies, so I used that)

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium heat, then add onion, carrot and celery and saute for about 5 minutes or until softened. Add the flour and stir to coat the vegetables, and cook for 2 minutes.
2. Pour in the chicken stock, then add the chicken, garlic powder, tortellini, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes until tortellini are cooked.
3. Stir in the cream or milk and the spinach, and simmer for a few more minutes.

*Because of the pasta, the soup will thicken as it cools, so you may need a splash or two of broth or water when you’re reheating the next day to thin it out*