Tomato Tortellini Soup

I love soup for dinner and it's nice when the weather cooperates with my menu planning.  Recently, I've just gone ahead and made it on 90 degree days because it's October.  This recipe is a good middle ground between opening a can of soup and heating it up and making a soup from scratch with a lot of ingredients.  It involves cans of soup but jazzes it up a little and tastes "fresher" with adding additional flavors and fresh tortellini.

For the sundried tomatoes, you can take the dried ones and soften them up by soaking them in boiling water, use the packaged soft sundried tomatoes (TJs sells julienned sliced ones this way), or the kind packed in oil if you drain the oil.  If you want a little kick, add some ground pepper or red pepper flakes.  If you like it richer and aren't as concerned about fat content, use 2% or whole milk and add a dash of heavy cream.  I added some fresh basil and fresh parmesan cheese to top the soup before serving.

Tomato Tortellini Soup (6 servings)
adapted from Taste of Home

9 oz package of cheese tortellini
2 cans condensed tomato soup (undiluted)
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups milk (I used nonfat)
1 cup half and half
1/2 cup softened sundried tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried basil
Parmesan cheese and fresh basil (optional)

Cook the tortellini according to the package instructions.

Meanwhile, in a large pan or Dutch oven, combine the rest of the ingredients (except for the parmesan cheese, if using).  Heat through until simmering, stirring frequently.  Add the cooked, drained tortellini.  Stir.  I served it with graded fresh parmesan cheese and fresh basil on top.