Slow Cooker Cheese Tortellini

I have made this yummy comfort food dish for at least 8 years and realized I've never made a blogpost about it, so here you go!

Ingredients 

1 (19oz) bag of frozen cheese tortellini

1 small bag of fresh spinach (I used about 2/3 of a 5 oz package)

2 (14.5 oz) cans of Italian style diced tomatoes, drained

1 block (8 oz) of cream cheese** (softened in microwave)

1 lb. of ground sausage or chicken/turkey sausage

3-4 cups of chicken broth (start with 3, add 1 more if it looks like it needs it)

Instructions

1. Brown the sausage and put all ingredients in the slow cooker, chunking up the cream cheese.

2. Cook on low for 4-6 hrs.

Serves 4-6

*Keep an eye on your tortellini, it may be done sooner.
*If still soupy, leave lid off for the last half hour or so of cooking.
*For a vegetarian version, omit sausage and use vegetable broth instead.

**If you use neufachtel (1/3 fat of regular cream cheese) be prepared that it doesn't melt as well and leaves little curds. 

How we make it uniquely our own

1. I've used ground sausage, ground turkey, kielbasa, and chicken sausage links in this recipe in the past and all work very well!. Today I used Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage to add extra flavor to the dish!

2. I forgot to drain the cans of diced tomatoes, but it did not make the dish too soupy. And that is considering I used the full 4 cups of chicken broth (reduced sodium because there is enough sodium already in the tomatoes).

3.  I served garlic breadsticks with the tortellini to better sop up every bit of the sauce!  I heated a 6-count box of Food Lion brand garlic breadsticks (only $1.39!) and they tasted as good as the ones from Olive Garden IMO!

Our thoughts

If you're looking for a great comfort food dish that is good served year-round, this is it!  The spinach & tomatoes blend so well in the sauce and with the sausage.  The dish is hearty, but not heavy.  Next time, I plan to pull out a nice red wine to complete the Italian meal feel!