Sunday's Soup

Well, I'm very happy to say that the second Panera soup recipe I tried is a success. I gave my husband a small bowl for tasting and his first comment was, "Wow, this is good." I think it's a hit. The soup is
Tortellini in Pesto Broth

Look at that beautiful rich color!
I followed the recipe exactly as it is printed on the website with just a few exceptions, the recipe calls for 1 carrot, I used 3 because that was how many were left in the bag and I wanted to use them up. I also added about a cup of chopped spinach. Rather than using the refrigerated or frozen tortellini, I used a dried tortellini and as you can see, it is also spinach and ricotta rather than the meat. I wanted to use the dried as I think it is more readily available and I wanted to see how it would do in the soup. The bag I used is an 8.9 ounce bag or 250 grams. Here's a link to Panera's original recipe,  https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/recipes/tortellini-in-pesto-broth.html and I've also printed it below. At this point, I'm two for two with soup recipes!!

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 rib celery, finely chopped
• 8 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
• 20 ounces refrigerated or frozen meat tortellini or cheese tortellini
• 1/3 cup refrigerated basil pesto

Directions

Step 1.

Warm the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, and celery, and cook until the vegetables are just tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the broth and bring it to a boil over high heat.

Step 2.

Add the tortellini, and cook until they float, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the pesto, ladle the pasta into shallow soup bowls

*I added the chopped spinach after the tortellini had cooked. I also used a homemade pesto rather than the purchased. Here's a link to the recipe that I like to use, http://rhondabuss.blogspot.com/2010/07/pesto-pronto.html I like to make up a large batch from the basil that I grow and then store it in the freezer over the winter. To me there is nothing better than fresh pesto.

I've printed out 6 other Panera Bread soup recipes that I would like to try. Stay tuned and I'll let you know how they turn out!