Creamy tortellini soup

I love crock pot recipes, so I jumped for this one from our Healthy Cooking magazine. In the end it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, although it wasn't a train wreck, and there are some things I will do next time that I think will fix it. I don't normally post recipes until I've played with them and feel happy with the results, but there were a lot of requests for this one, so I make note of those things I would change in the recipe following. Let me know what you think!

Creamy Tortellini Soup

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes            
Cooking Time: 6 to 7 hours (on low)

Ingredients:
  ● 1  1.8- ounce envelope white sauce mix (I made my own with 2T butter, 1/4 cup flour, 2 cups milk.  See note)
  ● 4  cups water (I used only 2)
  ● 14 ounces vegetable broth
  ● 1-1/2  cups sliced mushrooms
  ● 1/2  cup chopped onion
  ● 3  cloves garlic, minced
  ● 1  tsp. dried basil
  ● 1/4  tsp. salt
  ● 1/8  tsp. cayenne pepper
  ● 30 ounces rehydrated cannellini beans (can substitute canned, but add them later)
  ● 1  7- to 8-ounce package dried cheese tortellini (I used 22oz. frozen, organic)
  ● 1  12- ounce can evaporated milk (see note)
  ● 6  cups fresh baby spinach leaves or torn spinach
  ● Ground black pepper (optional)
  ● Finely shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:
1. Original directions: Place dry white sauce mix in slow cooker. Gradually add the water to the white sauce mix, stirring until smooth. Stir in broth, mushrooms, onion, garlic, basil, salt, oregano, and cayenne pepper. To make my own white sauce I melted 2T butter, stirred in 1/4 cup flour, then blended in two cups of milk and 2 cups of warm water.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 3-4 hours. Add rehydrated cannellini beans and cook for 2 more hours (if using canned beans, add them with the tortellini).

3. Stir in tortellini and cook for 1 more hour.

4. Stir in evaporated milk and fresh spinach and cook until heated through (careful not to overcook the spinach! I left mine in while I cut a few mangoes, and it was more wilted than I would have liked). Sprinkle individual servings with black pepper and Parmesan cheese.

Two Notes for next time:
First, I've never bought a packet of white sauce mix, and don't plan on ever doing so, but when I made my own this time I did all the the work right in the crock pot and the sauce turned out a bit lumpy. In the future I think I will actually make a quick microwave white sauce and then pour it into the crock pot, already heated on low, before adding the additional ingredients.

Second, In our opinion the soup was way too sweet. Next time I plan to either cut the evaporated milk in half, or skip it all together, adding more vegetable broth to make up the liquid content.



Comments

[Amber]

I've read you are not supposed to use milk in the crockpot until the end. Maybe that's why your sauce turned out lumpy?