Italian Sausage & Spinach Tortellini Soup - Thanks Aldi!

I like shopping at Aldi. I like that the grocery store is a normal size and that if I forget something on my grocery list, I don't have to travel a mile to get from one end of the store to the other. I also love Aldi's prices. They have some great deals and if you are on a budget, your $$'s can go alot farther. Last week, I did all my grocery shopping at Aldi and was amazed at the amount of groceries which included fresh vegetables, meat, chicken, cheeses and much more that I got for under $100.

I was inspired after reading some other bloggers post about their Aldi meal plans, so I decided I wanted to test out a few myself. I looked at "A 2-Week Aldi Meal Plan" from Keeper of the Home and "25 Meals for under $150 at Aldi" from I am That Lady. Both had great recipe ideas and meal plans that you can easily do in your home.

I also visited the Aldi website and found some great recipes there. One of the recipes that I made was "Italian Sausage and Spinach Soup with Tortellini". This soup was delicious and it was filled wtih carrots, celery, and spinach. I cooked the tortellini separately and didn't combine with the soup since I didn't want it to get mushy. Plus, having the tortellini separated allowed me to have leftovers the next day. I just placed the tortellini at the bottom of the bowl and heated up the soup and poured it over top. I topped the soup with their Priano Parmesan cheese. I love the Priano brands. All of their pastas and sauces are budget friendly and tasty. I also substituted their Fit & Lively fresh sausage for the Parkview sausage. I made this in my crockpot instead of on the stove since I wasn't sure when we were going to be able to eat that day (I did cook the sausage as directed then added to the crockpot). My kithchen smelled wonderful all day long and the dish was hearty and very flavorful. I will definitely make this again. Thanks to Aldi for the recipe and terrific deals.

Here is the Aldi recipe. Courtesy of the Aldi test kitchen and Chef Alyssa:

Ingredients:

• 9 ounces Priano Three Cheese or Spinach & Cheese Tortellini

• 19 ounces Parkview Hot or Mild Italian Sausage, thawed (used Fit & Active Sausage in fresh meats)

• 1 tablespoon Carlini Extra Light Olive Oil*

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed

• 1 cup diced onion

• 1 cup diced celery

• 1 cup diced carrot

• 2 teaspoons Stonemill Essentials Italian Seasoning

• Stonemill Essentials Iodized Salt, to taste

• Stonemill Essentials Ground Black Pepper, to taste

• 14.5 ounces Priano Italian Diced Tomatoes*

• 64 ounces Chef's Cupboard Chicken Broth

• 2 bay leaves (I didn't have these so I omitted)

• 2 cups Little Salad Bar Flat Leaf Spinach

• 2 teaspoons Stonemill Essentials Parsley Flakes (I didn't use these)

Directions:

1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil.

2. Cook tortellini according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold running water. Set aside.

3. Gently apply pressure to remove Italian sausage from casing.

4. In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and sausage. Cook until sausage is brown and no pink remains.

5. Drain fat from pan. Add onion, celery, and carrot and sauté 3-5 minutes. Add Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste, sauté 10 minutes.

6. Add diced tomatoes and gently scrape bottom of pan. Add chicken broth and reduce heat to simmer. Add bay leaves and simmer for 30 minutes.

7. Add spinach, parsley, and tortellini, cook for 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.

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