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Slow-Cooker Holiday Tortellini Stew

It’s cold outside!  There’s no time like the present to fill the slow-cooker with some tasty Holiday Tortellini Stew that you can ladle into bowls later and enjoy a warm, comforting meal.
We received some snow this past weekend and I’ve been layering the clothes like there’s no tomorrow, wearing thick socks and slippers, and still freezing, ever since.  The temperature in our house has stayed constant, but somehow when the temperatures drop outside, it seems like the one inside does too.  It’s crazy how that works.
The kids seem to be un-phased by it and headed to the back yard at 6:30 AM to make a snowman before the sun beamed to melt the fun away.  They asked me to go with them, but I used the baby as my excuse to stay inside.  She’s too little to be out there in those conditions, after all.  🙂

 

I don’t mind the plummeting temperatures if it means Christmas is on its way.  The snow and the cold symbolize the holidays to me.  I grew up in Utah where we’d receive tons of the white, fluffy stuff, sometimes beginning in October and going through April on occasion.  I have to admit that I often grew tired of it, but now that I’ve moved away, I yearn for snow, especially this time of year.
I have a wealth of soup recipes in my arsenal for frigid days like today, when I just want to put on an over-sized, comfy sweater, stay at home, and warm my innards with a bowl of hearty stew.  This Italian sausage/tortellini concoction will do just that.
{SLOW-COOKER 
HOLIDAY TORTELLINI STEW}
Yield: 6 servings
Recipe adapted from Family Circle
 
4 sweet Italian sausage links, casings removed
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes with basil, garlic & oregano
1 package (9 ounces) frozen cut green beans, or about 3/4 can green beans
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini (or, I purchase the Di Amante brand un-cooked tortellinis from Costco and cook 3 cups)
1 T. chopped fresh oregano, or 1 t. dried oregano
1 c. water
Crumble sausages into a bowl and stir together with tomatoes, green beans, onion and Italian seasoning; place mixture in slow cooker.  Cover slow cooker bowl and cook 3 hours on HIGH or 6 hours on LOW.
When there is 20 minutes remaining, stir in tortellini, oregano and 1 cup water; continue cooking.  Serve immediately topped with grated Parmesan cheese, if you’d like.  Best the first night.  The tortellini soaks up lots of the liquid if stored and served as leftovers, so you may need to add some extra broth the next night.

 

The tomatoes and green beans give this dish a wonderful holiday appeal!

I could go for another bowl right now, as I sit here bundled up, doing my best not to freeze.

Enjoy!

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These Lion House Dinner Rolls would be a perfect companion to this soup!

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