Kale, Pancetta, and Cheese Tortellini Soup

This is one of my favourite meals to make. It is healthy and pretty balanced. You get lots of kale, which is considered one of the super-foods in terms of nutrients, hearty cheese tortellini, beans for protein and of course pancetta. I hardly ever make a soup that doesn’t start with bacon of some sort. If you can’t find pancetta (or don’t have the inclination to look for it) you can use regular bacon. I get pancetta from the deli counter at the grocery store. I ask for thick slices but if they don’t have it at the counter I do buy the thinly sliced pre-packaged stuff. Don’t get the pre-cubed pancetta – I bought that once and it was awful. The pieces were tough and the taste was terrible. Unless you are vegetarian, don’t skip the bacon – it gives the soup such great depth of flavour.