Butternut Squash, Sausage and Tortellini Soup
Total Time
1 hour
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
45 mins
Rating
4.6 out of 5 stars
(15)
Ingredients
6 to 8 servings
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground mild Italian sausage
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1 Granny smith apple, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 4 to 6 cups chicken stock (use more if you’d like a brothier soup)
- 1 pound diced butternut squash
- 1 sprig fresh sage
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk (or half and half)
- 1 pound (16 ounces) fresh cheese tortellini
- 2 cups finely-chopped kale, tough stems removed
- fine sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
- toppings: Parmesan and finely-chopped fresh basil
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Preparation
Step 1
Brown the sausage. Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and sauté until browned and cooked through, stirring and crumbling with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked sausage to a clean plate and set it aside, reserving 1 tablespoon of grease in the pot. (If there is no grease remaining, add 1 more tablespoon olive oil.)
Step 2
Sauté the veggies. Add the onion, carrot and apple to the pot. Sauté for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes and sauté, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes.
Step 3
Simmer. Add the chicken stock, butternut squash, sage and stir to combine. Continue cooking until the soup reaches a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low (or whatever temperature is needed to maintain a low simmer), cover, and simmer for 20 minutes or until the squash and carrots are completely soft.
Step 4
Purée. Remove and discard the sage. Add the coconut milk. Use an immersion blender to purée the soup until smooth.
Step 5
Finish. Add the cooked sausage, tortellini and kale to the soup and stir to combine. Simmer for 3-4 minutes or until the tortellini are al dente. Taste and season the soup with salt and pepper as needed.
Step 6
Serve. Serve warm, garnished with your desired toppings, and enjoy!
Step 7
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Chef's notes
Use caution when blending hot liquids. As always, please use caution when puréeing a hot soup! I find it’s easiest to use an immersion blender. But if you are using a traditional blender, you will probably need to blend the broth in two batches to avoid overfilling the blender, and be sure to always tent the cap on the lid open so that the hot air has room to expand.
Adjust spiciness to taste. Different varieties of Italian sausage can range considerably in terms of their heat levels. So if you are sensitive to spicy foods, I recommend giving the soup a taste with the sausage before deciding if you’d like to add extra crushed red pepper flakes.
Add more broth if needed. The tortellini will naturally soak up more of the broth the longer that they sit in the soup. So if you need to thin out the broth for leftovers, simply add in some extra stock and re-season the broth if needed.
