Fresh Spinach Tomato and Garlic Tortellini Soup

1 3/4 lb Roma tomatoes (about 9 medium)
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion finely chopped (1 1/2 cups)
6 cloves garlic, minced (more or less to taste)
2 quarts (8 cups) low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
1 (20 oz) or 4 1/5 C package refrigerated three cheese tortellini
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tsp granulated sugar
6 - 9 oz fresh spinach, chopped
3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese, for serving

Heat a pot of water to a boil and fill a medium mixing bowl with ice water. Once water in pot boils, carefully drop tomatoes into water and boil until skins burst, about 3 - 4 minutes (if a few of them are having trouble bursting, you can remove them from the water and cut an "X" in the bottom of the tomato then return to water for about another minute until skins slightly pull away). Remove from boiling water and transfer to ice bath, cool slightly then peel, seed and dice into bite size pieces, set aside.

In a pot, heat olive oil over medium heat, add onion and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds longer. Pour in chicken broth and water, then increase temp to moderately high heat and bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, add tortellini, season with salt and pepper to tastes and boil 7 minutes (or longer if directed on tortellini package).
Stir in sugar, tomatoes, spinach and basil and cook until heated through and spinach wilts. Serve warm topped with Parmesan cheese.

*If it's winter and you're having a hard time finding good Roma tomatoes, you could sub 2 cans regular/petite diced tomatoes, but during the summer when tomatoes are in their prime I highly highly recommend fresh. They make such a difference.


Serving Size: 8 servings

Number of Servings: 8

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user GRAMCRACKER46.