Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini

This recipe is a must for fall. From start to finish it takes about an hour and a half to prepare, but it is so worth it. I snagged this recipe from the lovely Erin @ C'est La Vie and she said I could share it with you. I cooked the Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini last night for the first time--it was an instant success! Makes your kitchen smell delicious, too.

Ingredients:
1 lb sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1 C chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 C beef broth
1/2 C water
1/2 C red wine
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, don't drain
1 C thinly sliced carrots
1/2 Tbs packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 1/2 C sliced zucchini
8 oz tortellini pasta
3 Tbs chopped fresh parsley
Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. In a 5 quart or larger dutch oven, brown sausage. Remove sausage and drain, reserving 1 Tbs of the drippings.
2. Saute onions and garlic in drippings. Stir in beef broth, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano, tomato sauce and sausage. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 3o minutes.
3. Skim fat from soup (I didn't have any). Stir in zucchini and parsley. Simmer covered for 30 minutes, adding tortellini during the last 10-15 minutes.
4. Sprinkle each serving with Parmesan cheese. (we left this out)

Makes 6-8 servings.

Enjoy!