Recipe Wednesday- Sausage and Tortellini Chowder

This is my grandmother's recipe and is great for the cold weather we are having. It makes a lot of soup so it's good to share. I actually made it last week, had Ben's parents over, and we are still eating on it.

Sausage and Tortellini Chowder

One lb bulk Italian sausage

1 medium onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced

2 T butter and 1 T olive oil

2 cups broccoli florets

1 32 oz carton of chicken broth

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

9 oz cheese tortellini, cooked and drained

½ t. pepper

½ t. dried basil

½ t dried thyme

2 qts half and half

1\2 cup grated Romano cheese

In skillet, cook and crumble sausage until no longer pink. Drain. Set aside.

In same skillet, sauté onion, garlic and mushrooms in butter and olive oil until tender. Set aside.

In Dutch oven or equivalent cook the broccoli and carrots in chicken broth until tender.

Stir in sausage mixture. Add soup, tortellini, pepper, basil and thyme.

Heat through. Stir in cream and Romano cheese: heat through.

Yield 12-16 servings. (Four Quarts).

Note: I had cauliflower and zucchini that I needed to use so I used that instead of the carrots and broccoli and it was great. I also only had half the called for amount of half and half so I supplemented with milk...this did not work so great. It seems like a lot of cream, but it makes to soup REALLY good. Also, you can use whole wheat tortellini to make it South Beach friendly.

Enjoy!