Keep Me Company: Vegetable Tortellini Soup
This is a tough time of year - it’s cold everywhere but here and there’s no major holidays to look forward to.
Unless you count the Superbowl which I super do because Rihanna and also because I want the Eagles to win and go all chaos monster on Philly again.
You guys, when the Eagles beat the Pats - two things happened:
We all won because that’s what happens whenever anyone beats the Pats. As a long-suffering Dolphins fan, I have loathed that trash franchise for years and I get damn near tingly when they suffer.
Eagles fans went….well, all Eagles fans, commandeered a garbage truck and spray painted it with the words “Fuck Tom B” but because they weren’t really concerned about kerning, it looked like the word “Fucktomb” - which was kinda a perfect description of the city at that moment and one of my favorite things ever on the internet.
Goddamn, I love you Philly. Never change.
What the hell was I talking about? Oh yeah - soup.
It’s cold, it’s shitty, let’s make some damn soup.
Hi! I’m your internet best friend.
I wish we could hang out in the kitchen and you could drink wine and keep me company while I cook.
But since we can’t - here’s the recipe.
Ingredients
2 cups water
1 1/2 tablespoons Better Than Bouillon
3 tablespoons butter
2 cups wine - one and a half for you, 1/2 for the recipe
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 yellow onion, chopped.
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup dried tortellini
1 14.5oz can of tomatoes.
Vegetables to taste - I used zucchini, mushrooms and baby spinach, but use whatever the hell makes you happy. Carrots, peas, cauliflower, green beans. Whatever you’ve got.
Black pepper to taste
Thyme to taste
Onion Powder to taste
Crushed chili flake to taste
Grated cheese to taste - I.E. - ALL OF IT.
Directions
In a saucepan, mix 1 1/2 tablespoons of Better Than Bouillon with 2 cups of water over low heat. Leave that guy alone to chill. He’s fine.
In another heavy bottomed saucepan, melt three tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat. When it melts and starts getting little bubbles, add the fennel seeds and give it a quick stir.
Throw in the chopped onions, give them a stir and let them cook with the fennel for about ten minutes or so, stirring frequently. Add the garlic and let the flavors mingle.
Season to taste with black pepper, thyme and onion powder. Dude, you know that means add a lot.
Hey, did you ever watch Narcos on Netflix? Dude, put it on right now. Pedro Pascal is in it.
Yeah. Try not to pass out when he speaks Spanish.
OK, back to the soup.
Fond should be building up on the bottom of your pan (remember we talked about this when we made risotto?), so grab 1/2 cup of wine and deglaze the pan. And then, grab some more wine and drink up, buttercup.
Now’s a good time to add your veggies and season with your herbs and spices again.
Mushrooms are a game day player in this soup, dude. I highly recommend them. Let the veggies cook for about ten minutes or so and keep stirring while you watch Narcos.
Add your tomatoes. The diced tomatoes were fine and worked if you like tomato chunks in your soup but I do not, so next time - I’m getting crushed tomatoes.
Let that sucker simmer for about five minutes or so. Remember the stock that you were simmering on the back of the stove? Let’s throw that in now.
Give it another stir, another season and let simmer for about ten or fifteen minutes. More Narcos time! Hey, did you know that Pedro Pascal and Oscar Isaac are best friends like us?
Yeah. Check your texts. I just sent you some wildly inappropriate opinions about this. You’re welcome.
At this point, your kitchen probably smells amazing and your dog has wandered in to find out what’s up. Give him a treat. He’s such a good baby and I love him so much. After you do that - throw in a cup or so of tortellini. The Flora brand I got worked really well and they make a three-cheese one too but why would you get that when you can get the spinach one?
Oh and speaking of - throw a handful or two of baby spinach or kale or whatever.
Let this simmer for about ten more minutes and dude, you’re done!
Add some cheese, black pepper and some crushed chili flake, pour yourself another glass of wine and inhale like the feral little raccoon you are.
But before you do, take a picture and text it to your best friend.
Love you, miss you, mean it! Cheers!
