Sausage, Bean & Escarole Soup

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1 lb. sweet Italian sausage meat
1 onion, chopped
2 tbs. olive oil
1/2 c. white wine
6-8 c. chicken stock
1 lb. tri-color cheese tortellini
1 15 oz. can cannellini beans
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 head of escarole, torn
Parmeggiano cheese - for serving

Add olive to a large soup pot and heat over medium heat. Add in chopped onion and salute until soft, about 5-8 minutes.  At the same time, heat a salute pan over medium-high heat and add in sausage meat, breaking into pieces with a wooden spoon.  Allow sausage to brown, but it doesn't have to cook all the way through.  

Once the sausage has seared in spots, add it to the pot with the onions. Deglaze the pan the sausage was in with the white wine, scraping up all the browned bits.  Add wine to the soup pot.

Allow the contents of the soup pot to simmer for a minute before adding in the chicken stock.  Start with 6 cups and if you want more broth as the soup cooks, add it in - but start at 6 cups.  Bring that to a boil and add in the tortellini. Cook tortellini in soup according to package instructions.  

Finally add in the beans and the escarole. Cook the soup for another 2 minutes or until the escarole wilts and everything in mixed in well.  Season soup with red pepper flakes.  Ladle into bowls and top with a sprinkle of Parmeggiano.

Buon Appetito!