I’m stumped more often than not on what to cook for my family.  I want something fun and fresh, but I also prefer to sit through dinners without complaint from 3 little mouths…  I also LOVE one-pot, easy, breezy, quick to clean meals that are hearty and filling.

Here is a yummy take on tortellini.  I made a soup instead of the standard pasta and sauce…

It’s even toddler approved!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 lb. ground mild Italian sausage (if you prefer a little kick you could also go with hot Italian)
• 1 – 16 oz. package Trader Joe’s tortellini (or equivalent)
• 4 oz. (half a package) cream cheese
• 1 jar (24 oz.) of your favorite spaghetti sauce (unless you have time to make your own!)
• 1 – 32 oz. container chicken stock
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 1 cup fresh basil washed and chopped
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 4 tbs. Italian seasoning
• Olive Oil
• Grated Parmesan to garnish

Directions:

In a large pot, on medium heat, drizzle olive oil just enough to coat the pan.  Toss in ground beef, Italian sausage and minced garlic.  Cook until browned.  Add to pot entire container of chicken stock and entire package of tortellini.  Cook until tortellini shells are slightly tender.  Add in spaghetti sauce, spinach, and chopped basil and stir together.  Toss in Italian seasoning and let simmer.  Once tortellini is cooked through and nice and tender, add in cream cheese and turn down heat to simmer.  Allow the cream cheese to melt into the soup.  Serve with grated parmesan and some fresh basil leaves if you’d like!  Enjoy!