Meatless Monday: Slow Cooker Tortellini and Butternut Squash Soup

Slow cooker tortellini and butternut squash soup is a meal that will be ready whenever you are.  While I highly recommend preparing this soup with tortellini because the filling is always a nice surprise but you can really make this dish with any pasta or even ravioli.  For the finishing touch, add a few leaves of fried sage for garnish.  To make fried sage, heat some olive oil in a frying pan and add a few fresh sage leaves.  Allow them to fry for a minute or two.  Remove them from the pan and allow the leaves to drain on a paper towel.

Slow Cooker Tortellini and Butternut Squash Soup
Courtesy of Betty Crocker

Ingredients:

1 small sweet onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped
1 Honeycrisp or Granny Smith apple, finely diced
3 cups cubed butternut squash
2 carrots, chopped
2 cups Progresso™ chicken broth (from 32-oz carton) or vegetable broth
3/4 cup whole milk or heavy cream
1 can (12 oz) beer (I used pumpkin beer)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
10 oz cheese tortellini
1 1/2 cups shredded fontina cheese (6 oz)
1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (2 oz)
4 oz crumbled blue cheese, if desired

Directions:

Step 1: Spray or grease 4-quart or larger slow cooker. Add onion, garlic, apple, squash, carrots, chicken broth, milk, beer, crushed red pepper flakes, rosemary, salt and pepper.

Step 2: Cover; cook on Low heat setting 4 to 6 hours or High heat setting 2 to 4 hours. Squash should be tender.

Step 3: Transfer soup to blender; puree until smooth. Return to slow cooker.

Step 4: Add tortellini and cheeses; stir to combine. Cover; cook on High heat setting about 10 minutes or until tortellini is soft.

Step 5: Ladle into bowls; garnish with extra cheese, if desired. Serve with crusty bread.

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