This quick weeknight meal is one of my favorites! It's creamy, cheesy, and has the right amount of bite from the Italian Sausage. Your family is sure to enjoy this as much as my picky eaters do!
My secret affair with pasta
As you all know by now, I LOVE pasta. I eat pasta at least a few times a week. My doctor may not like that I like pasta, but I feel like if you survive Stage 4 cancer, you get to choose what you eat. It's an unwritten rule. So, I'm bringing you another pasta dish!
This one really came about from my need to use some Italian sausage that I had sitting in my fridge. I love Italian sausage almost as much as I love pasta. Especially a mild Italian. It has a little bite, but a lot of flavor. So, I always have some on hand. However, I wasn't in the mood for chili, and I wasn't going to take the time to make bolognese or meatballs because the kids were home, it was a weeknight, and I just didn't have the time. So, I started throwing some stuff together.
What are we using?
In my refrigerator, you can almost always find some kind of green. This time it happened to be baby spinach. It went in the dish. Also, I add onion and garlic to everything I cook that isn't dessert. In they go. I've taken to growing my own fresh herbs at home. I highly recommend it. It gives me a chance to use the freshest ingredients to punch up any dish that I come up with. Since we're going Italian here, I dropped some fresh basil in toward the end. If you don't have it on hand, you can omit it, but it can be bought at almost any grocery store in a small package for around $2 and I'm telling you it will change the taste of the meal completely.
Chicken stock? I make it from scratch. I used a bit in here too. It really gives depth to the dish, and helps deglaze the pan from the sausage. Now for the pasta. Can I make my own tortellini from scratch? You bet! Did I do that here? Not even close! Store bought refrigerated tortellini is almost as good as making it from scratch, and it's about 100 times easier, so that's what went in the pan! I used a cheese tortellini, but you could definitely use something with meat in it as well. It's up to you!
Ah, Tomatoes...
Normally, I go on and on and on about San Marzano tomatoes. They're delicious. They make amazing sauces. They're what all of the chefs use in their kitchens. Sometimes, though, you don't want to use really good San Marzanos on a quick weeknight dish. So, I have diced tomatoes in a can in my pantry. Also, I'm adding heavy cream. It has to be heavy cream. Milk or half and half is going to curdle under the acidity of the tomatoes. Adding heavy cream takes this from just a tomato sauce to a creamy, delicious flavor bomb, and I love it!
Wrapping it up
We'll finish this concoction with some fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, which, if you have been following along on the rest of my posts, is the only way that you should ever consume Parmesan cheese ever again. It's the real stuff. You can use regular shredded parm here, but I'm telling you it won't taste the same. Most grocery stores will have Parmigiano-Reggiano already grated for you in containers. It will be in the cheese section, not with the rest of the dairy. You can see more about my thoughts on real parm here (https://tasteoftravis.com/lasagna-for-family-night/) Check it out and change the way you think about Parmesan!
This was such a tasty meal. My daughter is one of the most picky eaters on the planet and she ate it all. My teenage son ate pretty much the rest. This is a quick, easy meal that you can make in one pan if you wish. I like to cook my pasta separately to give it seasoning, but it will still be good in the same pan as the rest of the dish. If you do cook them separately, be sure to reserve some of that starchy pasta water to thicken the sauce. I hope you love this as much as I do! Enjoy!
Tortellini and Tomato Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 20 oz. Refrigerated Tortellini pasta
- 3 tbsp. olive oil divided
- 2 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes – not drained
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 medium yellow onion - diced
- 4 cloves of garlic – minced
- 20 oz. mild Italian sausage I used 1 lb. and 2 links from a second package.
- ¾ cup chicken stock
- ¼ cup fresh basil + more for garnish optional cut into chiffonade or chopped
- ½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano + more for garnish
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Start a pot of heavily salted water boiling for tortellini
- In a large skillet, heat 2 tbsp. of olive oil over medium high heat until shimmering
- Add Italian sausage in large chunks to pan and cook until browned (roughly 5-7 minutes)
- Strain sausage leaving just a little bit of fat behind
- Add in onion and remaining olive oil to the pan. Sweat the onions in the oil until translucent (about 3 minutes)
- Add in garlic and cook until fragrant (1 minute or less)
- Pour in chicken stock to the pan and deglaze. Scrape up all of the brown bits from the sausage and veggies
- Bring chicken stock to a simmer and add tomatoes. Cook until simmering
- Slowly add in the heavy cream, stirring to incorporate
- Add sausage back to sauce and stir in
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes to until tomatoes are tender
- While sauce is cooking, add tortellini to boiling water and cook for roughly 7 minutes until just al dente.
- Drain noodles, reserving ½ cup or pasta water to add to sauce to thicken
- Add tortellini to sauce and toss in sauce
- Add pasta water and cook until sauce begins to thicken
- Add in spinach and basil and cook until wilted. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Take pan off the heat. Finish with Parmigiano-Reggiano and stir in to incorporate to the dish
- Serve immediately. Top with additional basil and parm
OH man was this DELICIOUS! I used one can of fire roasted tomatoes and one regular can, but it was still amazing. I threw in some baby bella mushrooms as well as they were in my fridge begging to be eaten. Such a great recipe!
Delicious! Made it last night and it turned out great. Making a smaller portion next time but overall would definitely make it again.