My Kitchen Addictions: Spinach Tortellini Soup

Recently, my husband and I dined at a restaurant that served a wonderful Spinach Tortellini Soup. When we arrived home, I looked through my many cookbooks to locate a similar recipe to prepare for our dinner table. Finding more than one recipe created a dilemma..."Which recipe will I fix?" I took a little of this and a little of that from each recipe and came up with my own. I had never heard of Acini di Pepe before. I've had soups or other dishes with these tiny, bead-shaped pasta, but never had prepared anything that contained them. Acini di Pepe are Italian for "peppercorns." To my surprise, I did not have a hard time finding these interesting little characters at the supermarket. When researching to find out what I could about this new, found ingredient, I came across a fun recipe, with Acini di Pepe as an ingredient. The recipe is for "Frog's Eye Salad." My grandchildren will surely love this one!
SPINACH TORTELLINI SOUP
(Printable Copy)
INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 cups spinach, stemmed and chopped

6 cups chicken broth

1 (9-ounce) package cheese or meat tortellini

2 tablespoons Acini di Pepe pasta

1 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 tablespoon tomato paste