Tomato soup is pure comfort food in a bowl and although the classic version brings up warm memories of childhood, I have recently been enjoying a twist on it, a beefy tortellini tomato soup! This version of tomato soup has all of the flavours of the original and it’s been kicked up with the addition of beef, tortellini and plenty of cheese! Pomì tomatoes form an amazing tomato base for the soup and I like to go with a combination of chopped tomatoes and tomato sauce to get a ton of flavour along with a nice texture. The usual tomato soup suspects of onions, garlic, broth and Italian seasoning are present and the beef and tortellini are added followed by a hit of worcestershire sauce and balsamic vinegar to enhance the flavour! Cream cheese and parmesan cheese are melted into to soup to make it nice and creamy and to add even more flavour! The whole thing is finished off with a handful of basil which takes it to a whole new level of fresh! This beefy tortellini tomato soup is a perfect meal in a bowl any time of the year, but especially so on cold winter days! (I like to make a double batch of this soup on the weekend to have leftovers to bring to work to enjoy for lunch during the week!)

1. Cook the ground beef and onion in a large sauce pan over medium-high heat until the meat is browned and the onions are tender, about 7-10 minutes, before draining any excess grease from the pan.
2. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for a minute.
3. Add the Pomì organic chopped tomatoes, Pomì tomato sauce, broth, Italian seasoning, tortellini, worcestershire sauce and balsamic vinegar, bring to a boil reduce the heat and simmer until the tortellini is cooked, about 5-7 minutes.
4. Add the cream cheese and parmesan and cook until they have melted into the soup before seasoning with salt and pepper to taste and mixing in the basil. Option: Steep, chop and add 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms to the soup in step three,(also adding the steeping water to the soup)!

Recipe by Kevin Lynch of closetcooking.com