Okay, I'm a little bit proud of myself here. I have made about 5 different versions of this soup over the last couple years because I love it so much. Last night I took elements from each of them and added a few twists of my own to make this amazing recipe! And I like it the best of them all! You have to try it! Especially now while Apple Cider is easier to buy. I learned how to make the breadsticks from that cooking class I took a few years ago. They are so yummy! This takes a little bit of time to make (about an hour and 45 mintues for the breadsticks and the soup, about an hour if you just did the soup) but its worth it!
Before you start the soup, you are going to get your dough ready for the breadsticks.
1. Put 1 1/2 cups warm water, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of your mixer.
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| 2 Tb. Sugar |
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| 1 Tb. Active Dry Yeast |
2. While you wait for it to bubble up get your compound butter ready. Melt a half a stick of butter and then mix in your garlic powder, salt, and Italian Seasoning. Put in fridge.
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| 1/2 a stick of melted butter, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/8 tsp. Italian Sesaoning, 1/8 tsp. salt |
3. Your yeast mixture should be bubbly now. Put in your salt and stir.
4. Next add 3 and 1/2 cups of flour. Mix using your dough hook attachment. Add up to another half a cup of flour until the dough is just barely sticking to your finger and the sides of the bowl.
5. Spray a bowl with Baker's Joy (or another cooking spray. Olive Oil cooking spray would be good too). Form your dough into a ball and place in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a light towel and light rise for about 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.
Now you are ready to start your soup!
6. Get out your heavy bottomed pot, a lb. of Italian Sausage, and onion and your minced garlic. If using sausage links, remove the casings by slitting open the top with a knife and cutting down the side and sliding the sausage out.
7. Chop up your onion or use a food processor. I wish I had used a food processor. The onion I used was really strong! Look what it did to my face!
8. Brown your sausage on medium high heat with your onion all chopped up and with 2 and 1/2 tsp. of minced garlic or 5 cloves. Your house will smell amazing! Saute together until the sausage is no longer pink and the onions should be translucent.
9. While the sausage is browning, in between breaking up the sausage and stirring it around I chop up my cup of carrots and get my other ingredients ready to go.
10. Next put in your can of Italian diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, apple cider, chicken broth, chopped carrots, basil, and oregano.
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| 1/2 cup of water |
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| 3/4 cup of apple cider |
11. Stir and put a lid on it and let simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.
12. While simmering chop up your bell pepper and julienne your 2 zucchinis.
13. Your bread dough should be done rising just before your 30 minutes of simmering the soup is done. I only use half of the dough each night. So I take half out and put the rest in the fridge in an airtight container to use when we have our leftovers.
14. Roll your dough out on a floured surface, or a surface that has been sprayed with Baker's Joy into a rectangle. Using a pizza cutter, cut into strips. If I was using all the dough, I would cut into 12 strips. Since I'm only using half, I cut into 6.
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| as you can see, mine is a PERFECT rectangle :) |
15. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray really well with Baker's Joy.
16. Take each strip of dough and roll between your hands like you did when you were a kid making a snake out of playdough. It will double the length of the strip and make it long and cylindrical like a rope.
17. Next hang it over your finger, your finger in the middle of the rope of dough. Then grab one end of the dough and twist it around the other side of the dough. Place on baking sheet kind of pressing down on the ends to help it keep its twisted shape. Repeat with the remaining strips of dough. Then cover to let rise for 30 more minutes. The last 15 minutes of rising, preheat your oven to 375'.
18. After your soup has simmered for 30 minutes, put in 4 oz. of softened cream cheese that has been chopped up into cubes. Stir in and let it melt and combine with the sauce. Add in your chopped green bell pepper. zucchini, and 3 Tb. of Parsley. Let simmer for about 15 more minutes. Add in 10 oz. of cheese tortellinis and cook according to package directions. Mine said between 7 and 9 minutes.
While the soup finishes, put your breadsticks in the oven and let them cook between 11-15 minutes.
Get your flavored butter out of the fridge. Soften it in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Mix in some canned Parmesan. Get a sandwich size baggie out.
When the breadsticks are done cooking (they should have golden brown tops) spread the butter mixture over the hot breadsticks using your plastic baggie.
Now your soup and breadsticks are done and ready to be devoured! Spirnkle some freshly grated Parmesan cheese over your soup.
Enjoy!
Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup
1 lb. of Italian Sausage (can be ground, or links if you remove the casings)
1 onion chopped
5 cloves of minced garlic or 2 1/2 tsp.
32 oz. of chicken broth
14.5 oz can of Italian diced tomatoes
8 oz. of tomato sauce
1/2 cup of water
3/4 a cup of apple cider
1 cup of chopped carrots
1/2 Tb. Dried Oregano
1/2 Tb. Dried Basil
4 oz. of cream cheese (half of a bar) softened and cut into cubes
2 medium zuccinis julienned and chopped
1 green bell pepper chopped
3 Tb. of Dried Parsley
10 oz. of cheese tortellinis
Directions:
Brown Italian Sausage with chopped onion and 5 cloves of garlic. When the sausage is brown, with no pink, and the onions are translucent add in chicken broth, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, apple cider, chopped carrots, oregano, and basil. Stir together and cover with a lid. Let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
After 30 minutes add in cream cheese cubes. Stir and melt the cream cheese into the soup. Add in chopped bell pepper and zuccini and dried parsley. Simmer for about 15 more minutes. Add in your cheese tortellinis to the soup and cook according to directions. The ones I used cooked for 7-9 minutes.
Top individual bowls of soup with grated Parmesan Cheese. Enjoy!
Italian Breadstick Twists:
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees)
2 Tb. sugar (or honey/agave nectar)
1 Tb. active dry yeast
1 tsp. fine sea salt
3 1/2 to 4 cups flour
Flavored Butter:
4 Tb. melted butter (half a stick)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/8 tsp. salt
Directions:
In the bowl of your mixer combine water, sugar, and yeast. Let stand a few minutes until the yeast is bubbly.
Add salt and stir. Add 3 1/2 cups of flour and mix well. Add additional flour until dough starts to pull away from the bowl and it barely sticks to your finger.
Spray bowl with cooking spray and place dough in bowl. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or spray well with Baker's Joy).
Remove dough from bowl and place on a lightly floured surface (or spray the surface with Baker's Joy). Roll into a rectangle and cut into 12 long strips with a pizza cutter.
Roll out each piece of dough into a snake and then twist the dough. Place on a baking sheet and repeat with remaining 11 pieces of dough. Cover and allow dough to rise for another 30 minutes.
When there's about 15 minutes left to proof the bread, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. When done rising , bake breadsticks for 11-14 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven and brush with flavored butter. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Serve.
Thanks for reading!
