A hearty and filling bowl of soup that is loaded with bits of chicken, cheesy tortellini, carrots and spinach, all in a creamy garlic parmesan mushroom broth!
1teaspoonsaltmore or less, to taste *see notes below
1/2teaspoonblack peppermore or less, to taste *see notes below
20ouncecheese tortellini
1cuphalf and half or milk, heavy cream
2/3cupgrated parmesan cheesefresh is best
2cupsfresh baby spinachchopped & packed
2cupscooked chickenleftover or rotisserie
Instructions
Add olive oil to a large stock pot and place over high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the mushrooms. Saute 5-7 minutes or until the water has released from the mushrooms and cooked out of the pot.Remove to a plate.
Lower temperature to medium heat. Add butter and once melted & bubbly - add the carrots, celery, and onion. Saute 5-7 minutes or until fork tender.
Add garlic and saute 30 seconds. Add flour and Italian seasoning. Stir well to coat. Cook 1 minute.
Pour in stock/broth and water. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Using a spatula, scrape along the bottom of the pot to remove any brown bits left from sauteeing.
Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the tortellini. Lower temperature to medium-low. Cook 5 minutes or according to package instructions.
Pour in half and half and parmesan cheese. Stir to thoroughly mix before adding the chopped spinach.
Add chicken and mushrooms to warm, cooking 5-6 minutes on a low boil until the soup has thickened.
Serve garnished with freshly cracked pepper and basil.
Notes
All-purpose flour: Can sub for thickener of your choice; cornstarch, arrowroot, rice flour, etc. -Use half as much cornstarch, rice flour, or arrowroot. Mix it with about four times that of the half and half to create a slurry. Pour in after tortellini has cooked to thicken.
Salt and pepper: Both are to taste preference. If using regular stock or broth, decrease the amount of salt listed to 1/2 a teaspoon. Add more to taste, if needed.
Stock: Can use chicken or vegetable stock or broth.
Uncooked chicken breast: If you don't have leftover or rotisserie chicken on hand, add approximately 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of raw chicken breast to the pot once you've brought the stock to a boil (before adding the tortellini). After adding the chicken, lower the temperature to medium-low, cover the pot with a lid and allow to simmer 10-15 minutes. Once cooked through, 165 degrees F at the thickest part, remove to a plate and then add the tortellini to the pot to cook. You may need to add extra stock if it cooks down too much. Cut the chicken into chunks and add back to the pot at the end to warm.