To Eat Dinner @ Home: Tortellini & Spinach in Garlicky Broth

I suck at making soup. It usually ends up flavorless, despite having a lot of ingredients. But this one didn't!

When I heard the Bon Appetit podcast say that the key to good soup is letting the aromatics (garlic, onion, carrot, celery, etc) sweat in a lot of oil for over 20 minutes, basically until they are soft and have nothing left to give I wondered if that was part of my problem. I think I don't use enough oil and I probably only let them cook for like 10 minutes, maybe.

I wanted to give that technique a shot. But with what soup??  Lynne Rossetto Kasper blew my mind when she told me (and her other listeners/lovers) that tortellini should be served in STOCK not with sauce. ALSO, I've heard my gal pal (unrequited love) Lynne say that a parmesan rind is the ticket for a flavorful stock. So, I was thinking: how's about all of those at the same time? 

I consulted my friends at Splendid Table (diy soup) + Bon Appetit (tortellini soup) + Food & Wine (garlic broth) and came up with a pretty lovely, delightful recipe for this soup that would be a great appetizer at a fancy dinner party.

enough for 2 with some leftovers.

onion

~7 garlic cloves

2 handfuls baby spinach

4 cups broth

parmesan rind

parmesan for sprinkling

1 lb tortellini

1/2 lemon

Dice an onion & smash 3 garlic cloves. Put them in a sauce pan over medium-low heat in a decent amount of olive oil and some salt & pepper. Leave them for 20 minutes, mixing around every now and again. 

Put 4 cups of stock in the pot. (I used vegetable broth.) Throw in the parmesan rind. Also, slice like 4 more garlic cloves and throw them in. Bring to a boil. Then lower the heat so the stock is simmering. Let it go for a while. I think I let mine simmer for like an hour. 

cheese. spinach. garlic. broth. // light dinner, or perfect appetizer

When you're thinking it ought to be dinner time in about 15 minutes, bring a different pot of water to a boil. Salt the shit out of that water. Then, cook the tortellini (I used cheese filled, but I think I'd get something more flavorful next time). Go ahead and strain the soup, get rid of the onions & garlic & rind. Put that liquid back in the pot and bring it to a simmer. NOW, add like 2 handfuls of baby spinach to it.

Once the tortellinis are mostly finished cooking add them to the stock + spinach for a minute or two or three. You're done! Put your soup in some bowls & sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top if you want, but definitely squeeze some lemon juice on top. Acid = winner, always. 

just cause. nothing to do with soups.