Nosh: Tortellini Soup

You know when you go away from your regular routine...say, you go on vacation, perhaps, to Myrtle Beach for a week.  And you completely fall out of sync with your own routine because you're on vacation so who wants to be practical...so sure I'll have the nachos and beer for lunch and burgers and fries for dinner every night!  Woo hoo!  The laws of food do not affect me!  I am impervious to the effects of excess!Let me just say: It seems?  That I am, indeed, pervious.When George and I get home from almost anywhere that generates a change in our habits and creates an opportunity for excess--a vacation, a long weekend out of town, an overnighter at a wedding, whatever--we generally come back craving something that will be a) filling and satisfying and b) crammed with non-fried vegetables.  Tortellini soup has become our go-to dish to get us back on the track of our regular, generally healthy eating habits.This soup is wonderfully flexible and can be a device for using those sad-looking bits of vegetables that have started to wilt in your fridge after you've been away for a few days (as all soups can be) though I confess I am in love with the version I bring to you today.  So yes, you can (of course!) put in whatever you'd like but I recommend sticking to this version if you're so inclined.  Here's what you need:

• 1 or 2 glugs of olive oil in the bottom of your soup pot
• 3 white mushrooms, cut in a small dice
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 2-3 medium carrots, sliced
• 3 (or more!) cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 zucchini, cut in half-moons
• a few large handfuls (sorry, that's the best measurement I've got) of kale (or spinach or whatever leafy greens you prefer)
• 1 - 9oz. package fresh tortellini (hahahaha, no I don't make my own)
• 1 - 35oz. can whole tomatoes (when tomatoes aren't in season and are mealy, or you want to make this as easy as possible, do yourself a tremendous favor and use canned)
• 4 cups vegetable broth (or chicken broth, if you're not keeping it vegetarian), plus additional water to reach desired consistency
• 3-4 bay leaves
• 1 healthy teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 healthy teaspoon rosemary
• red chili flakes to taste
• a goodly pinch of nutmeg (freshly grated if you've got it)
• salt and pepper to taste
• extra-virgin olive oil and shredded parmesan, for garnish (optional)

Get your soup pot heating and when it's warm, add olive oil to said pot.  Dice mushrooms into about a half-inch dice, throw them in the hot oil and grind in a little fresh pepper.  Leave them alone for the next five minutes.  DO NOT TOUCH THEM.  Your objective is to get them caramelized, and if you stir them around they'll just steam and won't brown.While they're cooking, chop the onions, garlic and carrots.  You're going to want the onions and carrots to roughly match the size of the mushrooms as they meld into one delicious flavor base for your soup.  Mince the garlic, of course, because who wants to bite into a half-inch dice of garlic?  Not me, unless I'm prepared for it.  Anyway.Once the mushrooms have browned unmolested in your soup pot, start adding your veggies.  Add the onions first and let them saute for 3-5 minutes, until they soften and start to turn golden. Then add the carrots and garlic. Let them cook together for another 2-3 minutes.  While the veggies are all cooking together you can measure out your herbs. I tossed the dried fennel and rosemary in a mortar and pestle and crushed them lightly to help release their flavors, but you don't have to if you don't want to.  The herbs just won't taste quite as strong.Once the mushrooms, carrots, onions and garlic have cooked together for a few minutes, add the herbs (and the crushed red pepper to taste, if you're using it), a decent pinch of salt and a few shakes of pepper.  Let them saute for another few minutes; by this point the bottom of the pot should be developing a nice fond, which is the brown residue from the veggies (fond is a French term, it means "foundation", get it?)While your veggies and fond are cooking, manhandle your tomatoes. I mean, really, get ready to stick your mitts into them.  Crush them to bits. Yes, you could buy pre-crushed tomatoes but I just...the more other people process your food for you, the less it tastes like the thing it is.  So you get your hands dirty, so what?I mean, I'm not suggesting you stick your (impeccably clean, to start this job) hands in a bucket of acid.  They're just tomatoes.  You'll recover.Once they're smooshed (which should really take you no more than a minute or two) check your veggies, and make sure you look at how brown it's getting on the bottom of the pan.  I ended up taking this fond exactly as far as it would go before it started to burn, which is great but can make a person a little nervous.If you don't want to let it get quite this brown, I totally understand.  But.  Once the fond is the color you want, add your beautifully crushed tomatoes and start to scrape up the fond from the bottom of the pot, because it is jam-packed with deliciousness.  Let that all simmer together for a minute, then add the stock and water to get it to a soupy consistency.  You can add a little more water than you originally might think you need.  The soup is going to cook down and you're also going to cook the tortellini right in the pot, so an extra shot of water in preparation isn't a bad thing.Bring this to a boil and then let it simmer for twenty minutes or so. If you've just gotten in from a long trip, this is a great time to empty out a suitcase or put away toiletries or log into Facebook to see what's going on.  Slice your half-a-zucchini into half-moons.Toss 'em in the pot.  Let them go for another fifteen minutes or so.  Open your package of tortellini and chop your kale into manageable bites.You want the zucchini to soften but you don't want it to cook into an unrecognizable mush, so really only let that go for 10 minutes before you add the tortellini.  The pasta will cook quickly; it only takes about three minutes for it to go from thisTo thisOnce your pasta reaches this stage, add the greens, which will wilt within moments of being in the hot soup.  Add the pinch of nutmeg, or give it a few passes with a nutmeg grater, if that's what you use.Because it is true: nutmeg + bitter greens = true love.Once your greens are fully wilted, it's SOUP TIME!This soup has become our go-to, full-on comfort, I am home and cooking how I want to and done eating nachos for a while-type soup.  You can go from unprocessed to done in about an hour, and much of that is unattended, so you're not tied to your stove and can take care of the business of coming home from a trip while your dinner cooks.  And maybe detox with a little herbal tea (I recommend the hibiscus).  Serve this with a nice grainy piece of bread and a green salad and you've got a hearty, savory, satisfying way to get yourself back into the healthy groove.This is a recipe I intend to make for the rest of my cookin' life.  I hope you enjoy it!