INGREDIENTS:
- 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 12 to 16ounces fully cooked chicken sausage, any flavor, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1large fennel, bulb coarsely chopped, stalks thinly sliced, fronds finely chopped
- 4garlic cloves, chopped
- Salt and pepper
- 1½quarts (6 cups) chicken broth
- About 10 ounces fresh or frozen cheese, spinach or mushroom tortellini
- 2cups chopped vegetables (such as snap or snow peas, green beans, asparagus, kale, spinach or escarole), or frozen peas
- Grated Parmesan, for serving
PREPARATION:
- Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high. Add the sausage and cook, stirring once or twice, until browned and crisp all over, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the chopped fennel bulb and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook, scraping up the browned bits as you go, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Step 1
- Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the broth is flavorful, 5 to 7 minutes. Scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Step 2
- Add the tortellini and cook according to package directions. In the last three minutes of the tortellini cooking, add the chopped vegetables and up to ½ cup sliced fennel stalks. (For some tortellini, that might mean adding the vegetables with the pasta.) Step 3
- Remove from heat and stir in up to ¼ cup chopped fennel fronds. Serve in bowls topped with Parmesan and more black pepper. Step 4