Slow Cooker Tomato and Tortellini Soup
"Notes: Before you begin, you will need a four quart or larger slow cooker. If you have a smaller slow cooker, cut the recipe in half. Secondly, the soup will be pureed at the end, so the dice size of the vegetables in this recipe really doesn’t matter. Lastly, a simple trick is to freeze cheese rinds as you finish a wedge of Parmesan and then use in soups that call for Parmesan. If you don’t have any, you may want to add some grated Parmesan at the end...."
INGREDIENTS
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1 quart vegetable stock
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2 28-ounce cans ground peeled tomatoes (we like Pastene or Cento)
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A few Parmesan cheese rinds, optional (will be removed after cooking)
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1 large bay leaf (will be removed after cooking)
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¾ cup fresh basil roughly cut
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1 ½ teaspoons fresh thyme (or ¾ teaspoon dried thyme)
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3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
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1 cup diced celery
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1 cup diced onion
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1 ½ cups diced carrots
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1 tablespoon chopped garlic
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1 ½ teaspoons salt
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½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
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1 teaspoon paprika
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Pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
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4 tablespoons tomato paste
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½ cup white wine
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¾ cup freshly grated Romano cheese
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½ cup heavy cream
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2 tablespoons butter (to smooth out the acidity, but optional)
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12-ounce package of frozen cheese-filled tortellini
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8 ounces baby spinach or fresh spinach, stems removed and chopped (or frozen may be used if fresh is not available)
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