Easy Slow Cooker Tortellini and Meatball Soup

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Let me preface this post by saying that this is a recipe that will very quickly find its way into your meal planning rotation. How do I know this? Because not only is this a recipe that we make fairly frequently during the late Fall and early winter months but it's a recipe that continues to receive many compliments from the hoards of friends with whom we have shared it.

After a blustery winter day full of sledding, snow fort-building and snowball fights, most kids would look forward to coming indoors to a piping hot mug of hot chocolate. While that does sound divine, when I was growing up, I couldn't wait to warm up from the inside out with one of my Dad's giant bowls of Tortellini and Meatball Soup. 

My dad has been making this committed-to-memory-only recipe for as long as I can remember and although he makes it the "old fashioned way" with the use of multiple pots and pans, it's just as good in this adaptation that uses a slow cooker. A recipe that is right up this busy mom of two's alley.

Hearty, filling and above all, super delicious, this soup was always the perfect ending to a snowy day filled with the kind of fun that chilled one down to their bones. It's a snow day tradition that I'm so happy to continue with two snow-loving boys of my own. 

Not only is this recipe delicious but it's also a quick and easy recipe that can be prepared in little to no time at all during the holiday season. All you'll need to do is head to your nearest SAFEWAY-brand store and pick up a bag (or two!) of Barilla Three Cheese Tortellini. After all, it's Barilla that puts the tortellini in the Easy Slow Cooker Tortellini and Meatball Soup and when purchased at participating SAFEWAY brand retailers, you can receive the following promotion: $.75 off the purchase of ONE (1) package of Barilla Tortellini!

What You'll Need:

- 4-6qt Slow Cooker
- 1.5 12oz bags of Barilla Three Cheese Tortellini (found in the dry pasta aisle of Safeway-brand stores)

- 32oz Vegetable Broth

- 16oz Chicken Broth

- 2c Water

- 1 package frozen Italian meatballs

- 6 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2in rounds

- 4 celery stalks sliced into 1/2in pieces

- fresh Spinach leaves (optional)

- Parmesan cheese to garnish

- Black pepper to taste

(Even though I used "low sodium" broth, the meatballs add more than enough salt flavor to the soup so you will not need to season with salt)

What You'll Do: 

- Pour both the vegetable and chicken broth into your crock pot along with 2 cups of water.

- Add in your carrots, celery and meatballs. Season with black pepper and stir.

- Set your Crock pot on high for four-five hours.  

- Thirty minutes prior to serving, add in your Barilla Three Cheese tortellini

- 10 minutes prior to serving, turn down your Crock pot to "warm" or even "off" and stir two cups of chopped fresh Spinach leaves (optional)

Finish with a generous amount of Parmesan cheese and from our home to yours, Mangia!

For even more delicious recipes or to learn more about the lifestyle, 

culture and cuisine of Italy, be sure to connect with Barilla on Facebook.