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Creamy Ravioli Soup Recipe

April Freeman
With the delicious flavors of tomatoes and Italian-style herbs, our recipe for Creamy Ravioli Soup will have your family members going back for second helpings. This recipe makes a soup that will satisfy the heartiest appetites, and it cooks up in less than half an hour, making it the perfect recipe for a busy weeknight evening after your kids’ sports practice runs late. Why not cook up a pot of this soup tonight?
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Cuisine Italian
Servings 8 Servings

Equipment

  • Large Dutch Oven or Cooking Pot
  • Spatula

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbsp Cooking Oil
  • 1 tbsp Butter
  • 1 pc Large Carrot peeled and diced
  • 1 pound Ground Meat some kind of Italian sausage for extra flavoring
  • Salt and Pepper to Taste
  • 2 teaspoons Minced Garlic
  • 1 teaspoon Dried Basil
  • 1 teaspoon Dried Italian Seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
  • 15 ounces Canned Crushed Tomatoes or Tomato Sauce
  • 4 cups Chicken Broth
  • 1 package Cheese Ravioli fresh or frozen
  • 2 cups Frozen Spinach
  • 2 cups Half-and-Half
  • ½ cup Parmesan Cheese optional

Instructions
 

  • Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or cooking pot over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the butter, stirring it until it melts and is sizzling. Add the carrots to the hot oil and sauté for several minutes until the carrots are soft and just slightly browned. This should take 3 or 4 minutes. 
  • Stir the ground meat into the pan, breaking it up with a spatula. Cook the meat, turning it frequently until no more pink remains and all of it is browned. Drain any accumulated grease. 
  • Stir in the garlic, basil, Italian seasoning, and onion powder. Cook this for about 60 seconds until the garlic is lightly browned and fragrant. 
  • Add the tomato sauce and chicken broth. Bring the soup to a boil. 
  • Add the ravioli and cook them for the amount of time that the package directs. Stir in the frozen spinach, stirring to break it up in the soup. Heat the soup until it is steaming. Add the half-and-half, stirring to combine. 
  • If you wish to use the Parmesan cheese, add it and stir to combine it.
  • Serve the soup piping hot in bowls with a fresh loaf of crusty bread.
    This is a bowl of creamy ravioli soup with spinach.

Notes

Ravioli originated in the 14th century in Italy. The medieval Italian cooks would roll sheets of pasta out into a thin layer and fill them with mixtures of herbs, eggs, and fresh cheese. The filling would be enclosed with another layer of pasta and cut into squares. These small dumplings would go into a pot of simmering broth and be served with herbs and spices. 
Did you know that what fills the ravioli depends on the region in which it is made? Places like Rome fill ravioli with ricotta cheese, spinach, and spices, while in Sardinia, ravioli are filled with ricotta and lemon zest. Sicilian ravioli might be stuffed with fish and potatoes.
Fresh ravioli is much more delicious than the chewy stuff that you may remember from childhood. The pasta is perfectly textured, and the fillings are much more tasty and delicate. You can top this pasta with whatever you prefer, whether it’s tomato sauce or even a white sauce. For our recipe, we used it like pasta in a soup. 
With the advent of frozen ravioli, you can enjoy the flavor of freshly made pasta but have the convenience of frozen food. We like to keep a bag of frozen ravioli on hand so that when the urge to make a recipe like our creamy Ravioli Soup strikes, we will have exactly what is needed. However, you may want to just grab a package of fresh ravioli from the dairy case if you will be cooking it within a few days.
Many people with hearty appetites eschew soup for dinner. For their high metabolisms, most soup recipes just don’t keep them satisfied for very long. However, this soup breaks that mold. With the inclusion of ground meat and the half-and-half, not to mention the cheese, our recipe for Creamy Ravioli Soup has “stick to your ribs” staying power. It will fill everyone up and keep them satisfied for quite a while. 
We made our recipe with ground Italian sausage. This adds additional flavor as well as fat to the recipe. If you’re serving teen boys who are the typical “bottomless pits” at mealtimes, we recommend that you make it with Italian Sausage. Just be sure that you drain the fat off of the meat when you brown it.
However, if you want the soup to be a bit lighter, you may want to make it with ground turkey or ground chicken.
Keyword Creamy Ravioli Soup, Recipe, Soup

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