I was going to provide you with a link to the cookbook where I found this recipe, but alas, I can’t seem to find it online anywhere, despite the fact that Neal and I just got it for Christmas this year from Brian and Jaime. Anyway, it’s the Crock Pot 4-cookbooks-in-one book (appetizers, soups and stews, side dishes and main dishes).
On Sunday, I decided to make a soup that would serve as our lunch for a few days this week. I was making Shepherd’s pie for supper that night, so for once, I wasn’t using the slow cooker for that meal. Unfortunately, it wasn’t ready for Sunday’s lunch, so we had to smell this soup simmering away for the better part of the day and still wait until Monday to try it. It was way worth it!
This is a very tasty and hearty soup. I did change it up a bit – because hey, are there any meals these days that I don’t tweak to suit our tastes? For instance, I didn’t put celery in – I hate buying celery, because the recipe never calls for much, and they it just sits in my fridge getting limp until i finally throw it into the compost bin, grumbling to myself. Also, they called for 2 cans (14 oz each) of chicken broth, but I couldn’t find any such-sized cans, so I opted to use a 900mL box of broth and measured out 850 mL (as that is the equivalent). Finally, they called for 1/4 teaspoon of garlic… Um, what would be the point? Would anyone really be able to taste such a measly amount of garlic? We LOVE garlic in this house, so I definitely added more. I actually don’t remember how much I put in, but I’m thinking it was somewhere around 1-1/2 teaspoons.
Here you go (tweaked from the book version):
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup onion
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (15.5 oz) navy beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 cup frozen green beans, thawed
850mL prepared chicken broth (I used sodium-reduced)
1.5 tsp (or more?) garlic powder
Pepper to taste
1 package (9 oz) refrigerated tortellini pasta (meat- or cheese-filled)
3 Tbsp fresh chopped basil or 3 tsp dried basil
Grated Asiago or Parm cheese (optional – and I have actually forgotten about this, and it was still excellent)
1) Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add bell pepper and onion. Cook and stir 4 minutes or until onions are translucent. Transfer to slow cooker.
2) Add tomatoes with juice, navy beans, zucchini, green beans, broth, garlic powder and pepper. Cover; cook on LOW 7 hours or HIGH 3.5 hours
3) Turn slow cooker to HIGH. Add tortellini and basil and cook 20 to 25 minutes longer or until pasta is tender. Garnish each serving with cheese.
Makes 6 servings
Seriously DE-LISH. Even Claire gobbles down a bunch that is roughly equivalent to half of my own serving (hers, of course, is cut up nice and small before she eats it!), and she would probably eat more if I offered it to her. But, you know, this is supposed to be 6 servings and besides, you have to leave room for dessert, right? (As in fruit for her)
