Dinner is a delicious, filling soup that honestly I had to make because I was craving it. Venison, tomatoes, kale, tortellini, yum! I came up with this recipe to use ingredients I had on hand. Avoiding grocery shopping has become a challenge accepted situation for me. Plus the fact Ron is a hunter and I have a freezer of venison to invent new recipes. It’s a win win! Here are the ingredients for venison tortellini soup:

1 Prepare the meat mixture. Chop half an onion (or a full cup) in to bite size pieces. Add the onion and ground venison to a soup pot. I am using my favorite cast iron dutch oven. One of the best parts of using venison is it is so lean there is no grease to drain. If you are using ground beef, now is the time to drain. Then mix in a Tbsp of garlic powder.

2 Time for tomatoes. Add a can of diced tomatoes to the meat mixture. I like to add them at this stage to get them directly on the heat surface so they can soften a little.
3 Soup it up. Add that entire box of beef broth which is 32 ounces. Plus the same amount of water. Stir in a Tbsp of Worcestershire sauce, a tsp of Dale’s seasoning. and 1/2 a cup of red wine. Always use a wine you would drink when you cook with it. The alcohol cooks out but the flavor stays.
4 The parmesan rind is flavor. I learned this flavor boast from Rachel Ray and love that it uses the rind of the cheese that we don’t typically eat. Save the rind or slice it from your fresh parmesan wedge. Toss it in the soup. It really adds a great parm flavor to the soup.

5 Add tortellini. The uncooked cheese tortellini can go right in to the soup. It will cook in the simmering liquid we added. Chop a cup of kale and add to the soup also.

6 Dinner is almost ready. Simmer the soup on low, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes. Remove the parmesan rind and taste if it needs salt. The soup is ready to serve! I hope you enjoy it as much as Ron. He had 2 full bowls!