Italian Sausage Soup

This was delicious! I used spicy Italian sausage (it's what we had in the freezer). I also omitted the red wine, used canned Italian diced tomatoes, and all dried herbs. My tortellini were dried, so I cooked them while the soup was simmering and then added them as the directions indicate. I will definitely be making this again!!


Ingredients
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups beef broth
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup red wine
4 large tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1/2 tablespoon packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups sliced zucchini
8 ounces fresh tortellini pasta
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions
1. In a 5 quart Dutch oven (I just used a regular pan), brown sausage. Remove sausage and drain, reserving 1 tablespoon of the drippings.
2. Saute onions and garlic in drippings. Stir in beef broth, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano, tomato sauce, and sausage. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
3. Skim fat from the soup. Stir in zucchini and parsley. Simmer covered for 30 minutes. Add tortellini during the last 10 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese on top of each serving.