Recipe: Tortellini Soup

I don't know about you and your family, but when the weather starts cooling off I know it's time to break out the soup and chili recipes. Nothing is quite like a nice bowl of soup at the end of a cool, windy day. I love this Barilla's recipe! I wrote it down a few years back, and it is one you can add items to (or subtract from) and always end up with a great soup. Here is what you will need: 

Ingredients:

1/2 pkg. Barilla Family Size Tortellini 

2 quarts chicken broth

1 medium onion, diced

1 medium carrot, diced

2 celery ribs, diced

1/2 pound button mushroom, thinly sliced

1 6 oz. ba spinach

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1) Heat chicken broth, onions, carrots and celery in a large pot over medium-high heat until simmering. Cook for 10 minutes.

2) Add the tortellini and cook for about 8 minutes or 3/4 of the recommended cooking time on the tortellini package.

3) Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the mushrooms and spinach. Let the soup rest for at least 30 minutes before serving. 

4) Reheat if necessary and top with cheese before serving. 

Here is the finished product: 

This is one yummy soup that the entire family loves. I make a separate batch and add gluten free noodles for my sons meal. Like I said above, you can switch this recipe up to fit your families tastes and needs and really never get it wrong.  
Do you like tortellini soup? What is your favorite soup to make?

Recipe: Parmesan-Crusted Chicken

I recently cooked Parmesan-crusted chicken for my family, making it not only the usual way, but also a gluten free version for my son. I shared step by step over on our snapchat account (follow us at sistersmarie!) but here is the official recipe. I bought a meal kit from Barilla in my most recent peapod order, so I used their recipe and made up my own for the gf portion. Here is what you'll need...

Ingredients: 

1 box Barilla Spaghetti (and/or 1 box quinoa spaghetti)
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs (and/or 3/4 cup gf breadcrumbs)
1 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
2 eggs
3/4 cup flour (and/or 3/4 cup gf flour of choice)
6 chicken breast
4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 jar Barilla Marinara Sauce (2 jars if you are making both like I did)

Directions:

1) Cook the entire box of spaghetti according to package directions. 

2) Combine panko breadcrumbs and 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Beat eggs in a second dish or pie plate. Place the flour in a zipper closure plastic bag. Add chicken pieces, seal bag and shake to coat. Open bag and shake to remove excess flour. Dip chicken in egg mixture, shaking to remove any excess egg and coat in the Parmesan mixture; set aside. 

3) Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. When oil is hot, add half the chicken pieces and cook for about 3 minutes on each side or until browned and cooked through. Repeat with the remaining olive oil and chicken. Remove any excess oil from the skillet and use skillet to heat the marinara sauce. 

4) Toss the spaghetti with the heated sauce. Divide pasta evenly onto plates and top with chicken. Sprinkle with reserved Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Note: Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Here is a look at the finished product:

Both my children and my husband were loving this recipe. I was pretty impressed with how great (and yummy) both versions turned out! 
Is this an recipe you'd like to try? What is your favorite pasta recipe?