I am so excited to host Christmas Eve dinner at our house this year! Growing up, I always loved our Christmas Eve traditions. My family and I would go to mass and then head to my Aunt and Uncles house, we always had a ton of appetizers along with a yummy and hearty soup, topped off with Christmas cookies. We would stay really late and when we got home we would get to unwrap one present, which was always a new pair of pajamas to wear on Christmas morning. I follow the same tradition with my own girls now and it makes me so happy!

I decided to stick to our old tradition and am making one of my family’s favorites stews, I wish it had a fancier name, but we just call it Italian Stew! I’ll be serving it with a big salad and of course bread (#carbsforlife). I also pinned a few fun and festive appetizers that I plan on making to make sure everyone is nice and full.

I would love to hear about your holiday traditions and favorite recipes, I’ll start off a little virtual recipe swap with the Italian Stew recipe, I hope you love it as much as we do, enjoy!

Italian Stew

1 lb. Italian sausage
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
3 cups beef broth
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) stewed tomatoes, cut up
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1 medium carrot, thinly sliced
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 pkg. (9 oz.) refrigerate cheese tortellini
1 small zucchini, sliced
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
2 T minced fresh parsley
Grated Parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan, brown sausage and onion over medium heat. Drain. Add garlic; cook and stir for 2 minutes.

Stir in broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce, carrot, basil, and oregano. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes.

Gently stir in tortellini, zucchini, green pepper, and parsley. Cover and simmer for 20- 25 minutes or until tortellini is tender. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

*Tip: Cook your tortellini separate and add it in the soup right before serving! This will make sure the tortellini doesn’t soak up too much of the soup liquid. I also suggest storing any leftover in separate containers as well.