Tomato Basil Tortellini Soup

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup diced carrots (3 medium)
1 3/4 cup diced yellow onion (1 large)
2 Tbsp olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 (28 oz) cans whole Roma tomatoes
1 (32 oz) carton vegetable broth
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnish
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
16 oz refrigerated three cheese tortellini
3/4 cup heavy cream
Parmesan, shredded, for serving

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add carrots and onion and saute 3 – 4 minutes, add garlic and saute 1 minute longer. Pour mixture into a 6 or 7 quart slow cooker along with tomatoes, vegetable broth, basil, bay leaves, sugar. Stir and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover slow cooker and cook on LOW 6 – 7 hours or HIGH 3 – 3 1/2 hours.

Remove bay leaves then puree mixture well with an emulsion blender (or carefully in small batches in a blender. If your slow cooker doesn’t keep all the moisture in well while cooking, you may need to add in 1/2 cup water or so at this point so the soup isn’t too thick). Stir in tortellini, cover and cook on HIGH heat 15 minutes longer (or until heated through). Reduce heat to warm, stir in heavy cream. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.