A Nice Fall Soup with Tortellini, Tomato & Arugula

This meal came about, as some do, by just poking around the refrigerator and the cabinets to see what we had. What did we have? Well, there was some chicken stock and canned tomatoes in the cabinet, porcini tortellini from Trader Joes in the fridge and fresh basil out in the garden.

Tortellini are so flavorful that they really don’t need a heavy sauce so this was the perfect way to eat these. There were even leftovers of the soup (it makes enough for at least four people) for both jwa and I to take for lunch the next day!

Tortellini, Tomato & Arugula Soup
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 quart low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock
1 can diced tomatoes
1 package fresh tortellini
2 cups arugula leaves
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
Parmesan cheese, grated or shaved
salt & pepper to taste
Optional: 6 sundried tomatoes, diced

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot and add the onion and garlic. Let it get a little color and soften — about 5 minutes. Add the oregano and pepper flakes and stir a few times to incorporate.

Next, add about a cup of the stock and deglaze all the browned bits up. Add the rest of the stock and the can of diced tomatoes (don’t drain). Let simmer for about 6-7 minutes and then add the tortellini. If you are using sundried tomatoes, add them now as well.

Let the soup continue to simmer for about 6-7 minutes and the add the arugula. Mix it all together and give it a few more minutes, until the arugula is all wilted. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Of course, you can also use baby, bagged spinach in place of the arugula. When I made this last week, spinach was still unavailable (and evil), but when you can find it again, feel free to use it here. Come back soon spinach, I miss you!

Serve the soup all steamy and hot with some chopped basil and grated (or shaved) Parmesan on top. To really make a night of it, add some crusty sourdough or kalamata olive bread to the side.