Sausage Tortellini Soup

This flavorful soup is simple, quick and so versatile. I recently began a freezer meal kick and this soup was on my top list. Last night I served it with J.P's Big Daddy Biscuits at All Recipes. An absolute marvelous paring. As I was out of shortening I substituted butter and cut back on the salt by 1/4 teaspoon (I had to justify all that butter somehow). But anyway, here is my recipe for the soup.

1 medium onion, chopped
3 Tablespoons of butter
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Approx 5 carrots, thinly sliced
1/2-1lb Italian sausage
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
2-quarts of chicken broth or make your own with chicken bullion and water
Salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup frozen spinach or a couple good handfuls of fresh
1- 19 oz package of frozen tortellini

Brown Italian sausage in your soup pot until cooked through, discard grease and transfer sausage into a bowl. In same pot, saute onion, butter, garlic powder and carrots until carrots are almost soft. Add sausage to the onion carrot mixture along with the chicken broth, rosemary, spinach, salt and pepper. Bring soup to a gentle boil and add tortellini, then reduce heat and simmer until pasta is cooked.

If going the freezer route, add everything except the spinach and tortellini and freeze the broth mixture. When ready to prepare the soup, allow broth to thaw in fridge and then heat until a gentle boil occurs on the stove. Continue to prepare as directed.