Cozy On Up With Soup and a Good Book.
It's time for a #bookgiveaway!
I’ve shared this soup in the past, so it may look familiar. But it’s winter, and that’s the best time for a good soup and this one is easy and delicious. Plus, for some reason, February 4th is Homemade Soup Day, so it’s a great time to reshare it, right?
I’ve been making this tortellini soup for the last 30 years. I have long ditched the recipe, which came from some magazine or other, and it’s morphed into something different as time has passed and my husband has added his embellishments. It’s truly the best comfort food, and I would happily eat it several times a week if I could. I’m sharing my recipe here as we tend to make it, but you may want to adjust it as needed for more than two people.
Not only is this recipe super simple, but it’s also highly modifiable. Use whatever broth you like. For us, it varies depending on what we’ve got at home. You can use storebought broth, but using your own is much better. We make broth from duck, pheasant, chicken, and more. And you can definitely add whatever vegetables make you happy!
Tortellini Soup
By Crystal King
Serves 2 generous portions or 4 modest ones.
Ingredients
2 sausages of your choice
2 tbsp bourbon
4-5 cups of broth (again, your choice… 1 box of broth works, but if you make your own, even better)
1-2 carrots chopped
Herbs of your choosing and combination e.g., thyme, parsley, rosemary, sage, crushed red pepper, smoked or sweet paprika, turmeric
Pepper and salt to taste
1 package of frozen tortellini
Frozen peas
Frozen corn (roasted is best)
Grated Parmesan or Romano
Instructions
Slice up a chicken or pork sausage and sauté it in the bottom of a saucepan with a little olive oil.
Once browned, add the bourbon and deglaze the bottom of the pan.
Add the broth, vegetables, and spices and simmer.
Add tortellini after the vegetables have had sufficient time to cook (note that you don’t want them mushy).
When the tortellini begin to float to the top, add frozen peas and roasted frozen corn, then cook for another minute or two.
Serve with grated Parmesan or Romano on top.
Mangia!
Your Chance to Win a Book to Curl Up With This Winter
A dazzling magical realism western in the vein of Cormac McCarthy meets Gabriel García Márquez, The Bullet Swallower follows a Mexican bandido as he sets off for Texas to save his family, only to encounter a mysterious figure who has come, finally, to collect a cosmic debt generations in the making.
The Bullet Swallower is one of those books that I pick up, and I am truly blown away by the prose. E.G. James has a rare command of the language, with every sentence and every paragraph a masterful stroke in a wild, imaginative plot. I'm not into Westerns, but this book yanked me deep into its pages. Dual timelines are hard to wrangle, but you'd never know it in this novel. It's no wonder that I keep seeing this book pop up on the "most anticipated" lists for 2024. It has easily earned its place. I hope this book lands a movie...it would be so meta, in the very best way.
This giveaway closed at midnight on 02/04/24. Winners will be notified within 48 hours of the giveaway close and announced in my next newsletter/post.
Important to Note: you must be 18+ and a United States resident (pesky international laws make it tricky to do giveaways worldwide). If you are someone who loves rules, you can find the obligatory info here.
What’s Bringing Me Joy This Week
So, this gin actually did NOT give me tasty joy this week. This was easily one of the nastiest things I’ve tasted since I had Malort years back. But I have to say, I totally appreciate the marketing brilliance of Empirical and Doritos. And the conversation around it has certainly been fun. It does taste sort of like corn chips, mostly on the weird aftertaste. Fortunately, Empirical does make a bunch of other really great gins to compensate.
The art of Alexey Kondakov, a Ukranian artist in Kyiv. This wonderful piece plays off the Frank Markham Skipworth 1889 painting, “A Roman Holiday.” You can buy some of his marvelous pieces and his book here.
Let’s talk about the good stuff. If you love food and love Italy, and haven’t read THE CHEF’S SECRET or FEAST OF SORROW, click the links to learn where to buy your copy! 🍒🍗🍷
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That soup looks amazing! I will be trying it this week!