Rustic Italian Soup

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound Italian turkey sausage links, casings removed
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 (14.5-ounce) cans reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 3/4 cups water
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (9-ounce) package refrigerated cheese tortellini
• 1 (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped
• 2 1/4 teaspoons fresh basil, minced or 3/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
• parmesan cheese, optional, shredded, and to taste

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, add the sausage and the onion, crumbling the sausage.
2. Over medium heat, cook the sausage, while stirring, until it is no longer pink, about 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the garlic to the cooked sausage and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. Stir the broth, the water, and the tomatoes into the sausage mixture and bring to a boil.
5. Add the tortellini to the broth mixture.
6. Return the broth mixture to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tortellini are almost tender.
7. Reduce the heat to low-medium.
8. Add the spinach, the basil, the pepper, and the red pepper flakes to the broth mixture.
9. Cook the soup until the spinach is wilted and the tortellini are tender, about 2-3 minutes.
10. Serve with the cheese.