Fall soup kick

Good morning, lovelies! It is a gorgeous Fall day here in Northern Colorado...the sun is shining, the temps are cool and the sky is a bright blue. It could quite possibly be classified as one of our perfect Fall mornings! Anyway, there is something about the cooling temps and darker evenings that puts me into a cooking mood. Fall is all about hot and hearty comfort foods, don't you think? Warm apple crisps, giant pots of bubbling soup, and baked pasta dishes call my name once those leaves start to change. It always seems like there's something better to do in the Summer than cook, but Fall evenings practically volunteer themselves for time spent in the kitchen.

My latest food kick has been soup. I want to eat it for practically every meal; I feel the urge to pull out my dutch oven each weekend; and I love being able to share some homecooking with my friends. My current recipe obsession? Italian Sausage Soup with Tortellini...give it a try:

Italian Sausage Soup with Torellini

Ingredients

1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
5-6 cups beef broth
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup red wine
4 large tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped OR 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1/2 tablespoon packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups sliced zucchini
8 ounces fresh tortellini pasta
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1.In a 5 quart Dutch oven, brown sausage. Remove sausage and drain, reserving 1 tablespoon 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 30 minutes.
3.Skim fat from the soup. Stir in zucchini and parsley. Simmer covered for 30 minutes. Add tortellini during the last 10 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese on top of each serving.

Really, you could throw in any veggies that you have on hand. I'm not a huge zucchini fan, so I increased the amount of carrots and added mushrooms and celery instead, which was wonderful! I also used canned diced tomatoes rather than peeling and seeding my own because I'm lazy like that; and I opted for hot italian sausage to give the soup some zing. This was amazing! I'm seriously considering making another batch this weekend.

Tell me, what are your favorite Fall foods? Care to share any recipes?