Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Tortellini Soup

Perfect for a rainy day this soup is an upgrade to your basic tomato soup! Can be made with or without the tortellini depending on how hearty you prefer your soup.

Ingredients-Yields 4-6 servings

1 red pepper roughly chopped

1 tomato roughly chopped

1 onion roughly chopped

1 tbs garlic

1 tbs basil

1 tsp crushed red pepper, salt, pepper

2 tbs olive oil

1 can diced tomatoes

¼ cup heavy cream

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

10 oz of cheese tortellini

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 375.  Combine first 7 ingredients in a baking dish and roast for 35minutes. After 35 minutes add the entire can of diced tomatoes and cook for an additional 25 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes and puree in blender. * if too hot blender lid will come off from the steam. If your blender has that small clear lid that comes off remove that and cover with paper towel to let some of the steam escape. Puree in batches if necessary.

2.     Add puree and 4 cups of chicken broth to a large soup pan. Simmer for 25 minutes. In the meantime boil water for tortellini. (I added the tortellini right to the soup last time and it absorbed too much of the liquid so I recommend cooking separately.)

3.     In the last 5 minutes of cooking add the heavy cream to finish off the soup. Spoon desired amount of tortellini into each bowl and pour soup over top. Garnish with fresh Parmesan cheese.