Beef & Tortellini Soup

I’m finally in the process of creating a post about our month of soups. But I wanted to go ahead and share a few recipes first. These are recipes that we have found elsewhere but altered a good bit to make them our own.

First is one of our absolute favorites: Beef & Tortellini Soup. Even the kids who don't like mushrooms and peppers love this soup! It started with this Mushroom & Beef Ravioli recipe and evolved from there.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1.2 lb flank or fajita steak - Actually, there are lots of options here. You mainly want thinly sliced beef.
• 6 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced 
• 2-4 mini sweet peppers of various colors, sliced
• 32 oz beef broth or hot & sour soup (or a combo of the two - our favorite is about half and half)
• 10 oz cheese-filled tortellini (frozen, fresh, or dried)

Directions:

• Heat oil in a 4-qt pot or Dutch oven. Add meat and cook until nicely browned. Remove from pot and set aside. 
• Cook mushrooms and peppers in meat drippings (or, if you prefer, cook them directly in the oil before you cook the meat), just until tender - 3-4 minutes. Remove from pot and set aside with meat.
• Add broth and/or soup to pot and bring to a boil. Cook tortellini in broth, according to package directions. 
• Stir in meat, mushrooms, and peppers, and heat to desired temperature. 
• Serve and enjoy!