Everyone knows tortellini make a quick weeknight pasta dinner—but they also add substance that turns this quick, colorful vegetable soup into a meal. One caveat: Read the label carefully; avoid pasta products made with hydrogenated oils or unnecessary preservatives. Enjoy this soup with a slice of multigrain baguette and a spinach salad.

Makes 6 servings, about 1 1/2 cups each

ACTIVE TIME: 25 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 40 minutes

EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large carrots, finely chopped
1 large onion, diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
2 14-ounce cans vegetable broth
2 medium zucchini, diced
9 ounces (about 2 cups) fresh or frozen tortellini, preferably spinach-&-cheese
4 plum tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add carrots and onion; stir, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and just beginning to brown, 6 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic and rosemary and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
2. Stir in broth and zucchini; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini is beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add tortellini and tomatoes and simmer until the tortellini are plump and the tomatoes are beginning to break down, 6 to 10 minutes. Stir vinegar into the hot soup just before serving.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 203 calories;8 g fat (2 g sat, 4 g mono); 10 mg cholesterol; 28 g carbohydrate; 7 g protein; 4 g fiber; 386 mg sodium; 400 mg potassium.
Nutrition bonus: Vitamin A (80% daily value), Vitamin C (35% dv).
2 carbohydrate servings
Exchanges: 1 starch, 2 vegetable, 1 1/2 fat

This soup was terrific. Very easy to make and delicious. I made a couple of changes - I couldn't get spinach torts, so I used three cheese (Buitoni) and I didn't have vegetable broth on hand, so I used chicken broth (low sodium, low fat). I used one 32 oz carton - could even stand to use more - as it gets absorbed by the veggies and torts. I also added 2 pinches of kosher salt to the soup at the end, while it was simmering. YUMMY!

Anonymous, Cortlandt Manor, NY

This soup was delicious!! The flavor was dead on, it needs no tweaking whatsoever. I recommend this recipe very highly!

Anonymous

Love this soup! So easy to make, and a great way to use zucchini! The only changes; I used dried mushroom tortellini, and I did omit the red wine vinegar.

, OR

This soup was excellent. Easy to fix. Would make a wonderful meal in the winter with a loaf of crusty french bread! Yum.

Sharon

We thought this was a little plain. We enjoyed the veggies, but overall would have preferred something with a little more flavor.

Anonymous, Denver, CO

I was disappointed with this recipe. It needs more herbs and spices, perhaps a few teaspoons of Italian herb mix. It just tasted kind of blah to us, and no one in my family but me will touch the leftovers.

Beth, Milwaukee, WI

I made this soup today and loved it. I tweaked it to the groceries I had on had. I added Italian seasoning since I didn't have fresh rosemary. Didn't have tortellini so I used some elbow macaroni, some canned diced tomatoes because I didn't have any fresh. And I forgot to add the red wine vinegar at the end, but it tasted great. So easy to fix up, will make again definitely.

Christina

Very tasty soup and so easy. Makes less than 6 servings. Realistically, it makes more like 4 servings.

Sara, Colchester, VT

This sounded so good but turned out so very bland. We did use low sodium broth and ended up dumping in the salt and pepper just to give it some flavor. Maybe there was too much carrot, it seemed almost sweet? Plus there was very little broth left once everything else was dumped in.

Emily, Bay Area, CA