Thanksgiving Dinner Tortellini Soup

Thanksgiving Dinner Tortellini Soup

Nothing like a hot, hardy soup on a quintessential fall day.   Rained most of the day.  So I thought I would dig out the remains of our thanksgiving dinner and make soup out of it tonight.  I had already finished off the leftover corn pudding and the mashed potatoes because I had a tooth extracted this week and it was suggested that I only eat soft food the first couple of days.  Most of the chicken was gone as well.  Mike had been eating it on its own and I sent a couple of portions home with Mom on Sunday night. We usually do Hutterite chickens instead of turkeys for holiday dinners because we like them so much better.

Anyway,  I did save the carcass and the carrots.  So I turned the carcass (such an unlovely word and not very appetizing at all, if you ask me) into broth and scrounged up any little pieces of chicken I could pick off those bones.  Then I sautéed a couple of cups of chopped celery and chopped onions in olive oil until they were almost transparent.  Next I added my homemade broth (approx. 8 cups worth) and my very secret ingredient, Better than Bouillon chicken.  To taste.  I added a can of tomato soup because that is the only tomatoey thing I had in the pantry.  Added some Thyme, some Sage, and some Salt and Pepper.  All to taste.  I like flavor.  Next I added the chicken pieces and the leftover cooked carrots (I had made quite a few so  we had about 4 cups leftover). I added about another 4 cups of water.  And once the broth was bubbling (and since up until this point everything has been previously cooked)  I  added the herb cheese tortellini (about 4 cups).   Then I let the soup simmer until the tortellini was cooked thru.
Next, I proceeded to serve up a heaping bowl of soup and let it cool.  Once it was cool enough to eat, I devoured it.  It was delicious…even if I do say so myself.  I have to say, I really loved the tomato soup flavor.  I think if I had had another can, I would have added it too.