July 12: About-15-Minute Soup with Spinach, Artichokes, and Tortellini

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 cremini or white mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
   Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
6 cups chicken stock or broth
1 12- to 16-ounce package fresh refrigerated tortellini, any variety or flavor
1 pound fresh triple-washed spinach, stems removed and leaves coarsely chopped
   Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano cheese
   Crusty bread, to pass at the table

Heat a medium soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the EVOO, mushrooms, and onions, and season with salt and pepper.

Cook for 5 minutes, add the artichokes and stock, raise the heat and bring to a boil.

Add the tortellini to the pot and return to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.

Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until the tortellini floats and is cooked through. Fold in the spinach until it has all wilted into the soup.

Turn off the heat and serve up the soup. Top shallow bowls of soup with cheese and pass bread at the table.

4 SERVINGS

I bought a new car today. It is a green Toyota Sienna minivan. I spent all day at the dealership, so it was nice to come back to my sister-in-law's house and make a meal that only took about 15 minutes. It was about 8:00 before we ate. I felt really bad about that because we were going to go swimming tonight. Anyway, I really liked this soup. We used Buitoni cheese tortellini. It was really good. And my sister-in-law made homemade bread from the bread machine. It also was really good. The only thing about the soup was that the stock didn't have any salt in it, so we had to add salt to our bowls. After that it was much better, we all agreed.