Tortellini and Meatball Soup – A Slow Cooker Recipe

I got a new slow cooker for the holidaze – mostly to replace my trusty three-legged six quart with the broken timer and (because of only having the three legs) a limp.

The new cooker is as large (which I need for when I make The Barbecue Sauce) but also has settings to simmer and roast and all sorts of other cool stuff, so I was excited to try it out.

But. I was not thrilled, this particular day, to be cooking. Anything.

So, when I found a slow cooker soup recipe that I could mostly just dump everything in the pot and go on my way for a few hours, I thought “Perfect!”

And it is. Perfectly tasty, and perfectly simple to toss together – with frozen meatballs (I love these from Whole Foods) and fresh packaged tortellini, and hey, I had that bag of already sliced onion leftover from last night’s dinner and a jar of roasted red peppers, so there really was next to no effort involved.

Bonus!

INGREDIENTS
•1 cup sliced onion
•6 oz (1/2 cup) roasted red pepper, chopped
•32 oz unsalted chicken stock
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce*
•1/4 tsp Seasoned Salt
•1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
•22 oz (1 bag) frozen meatballs
•20 oz (1 container) fresh tortellini
•1 tbsp lemon juice
•1 cup light cream
•1 cup half and half
•Grated Parmesan cheese

*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste.

Add the onion and roasted red pepper to your slow cooker along with the chicken stock, Sherry Peppers Sauce, Seasoned Salt, and crushed red pepper and cook on high for two hours.

Add the meatballs and continue to cook on high for two more hours.

Stir in the lemon juice, cream, half and half, Parmesan, and tortellini and cook for another 15 minutes.

Note: you could also add baby spinach and/or fresh basil leaves along with the tortellini for extra nutrition and flavor.

We had ours with fresh baked sourdough on the side and thought it a fine, mostly labor-free dinner.

This makes a bunch of very nice soup, so prepare yourselves for leftovers, or package some up to share with friends.

I am certain they will not mind.

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