Bill's Tortellini Soup

1 lb mild or sweet Italian suasage
1 diced onion
4 little small new red potatoes (peeled and diced) (optional)
1 diced red bell pepper
1 cup carrots diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 heaping tablespoon of garlic, minced
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes (optional)
1 cup fresh spinach, cut up in very small pieces
1 cup tortellini (I used dried cheese ones)
3 14 ounces cans of Chicken stock
1/2 cup wine (I used red this time but whatever)
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons of dried herbs-I use Herbs de Provence
salt and pepper
olive oil as needed.

Cook the sausage in a big skillet. Remove once barely brown.
Cook all veggies but garlic and spinach in same pan using the leftover grease from the sausage. After the veggies have sweat for a bit about five minuets, then add the garlic, salt and pepper and swirl it around for a minute. Okay, you can add more garlic if you have know the girl for a while.... Add the flour to the mixture and cook it for a minute or two to brown up the flour on the veggies. Add the cooked meat back into the pan. Cook for another minute or two.

Add the tomato paste and then the wine and swirl thing around for a few minutes-make sure that you get the stuff up from the bottom! Add the spinach and the tortellini and all the stock and bring to a boil for about 20 minutes.

You can let it simmer for a longer amount of time-it is always better the second day.....

You can add a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese to the bowl as you serve it and a nice crusty whole grained bread to dip with. A squirt of some pesto sauce is a nice addition as well.

If you use a nice pan you can get away without adding any extra oil. This makes enough for 6 to 8 people or a number of meals for two people. Add your favorite veggies, subtract the ones you hate. I was going to add some cubed squash instead of the potatoes this time but Angela had already used up what squash we had in the fridge.

Take out the sausage and add some diced chicken and exchange the red wine for something white and you have a completely different soup.