Sunday afternoon, my husband asked me what I was
planning for dinner. I just spent most of the early afternoon making and canning BBQ sauce,
so I gave him two options. Either BBQ chicken on the grill, (there is nothing
like grilling in 36°F weather) or baked tortellini.
My lovely husband put a screwed up looked on his face,
and asked what kind of weird stuff I was going to feed him for dinner. He then
played twenty questions, as to why would I bake tortellini and not just cook it as
I normally do.
This is typical in our house when I try to cook something he is
not sure he will like. I learned early in our marriage, if he has not tried something,
my husband will say he either does not like or is allergic to it. My best
accomplishment was getting him to try Chinese food; it is now his favorite
food!
I used two different types of tortellini both made by Buitoni
brand. I used 9-ounce package of spinach tortellini and a 9-ounce package of
cheese and sausage tortellini. You can use any variety you chose, I chose mine
for the color. Since I used a meat tortellini, I did not add any additional
meat, but you could add pound of a ground meat to the sauce.
You can used frozen spinach if you would like. I used a
combination of garlic and onions, sautéed with oregano, basil, and ground
thyme. If you use spinach, defrost then squeeze out excess liquid. I would add
it to the pan with the onions and garlic mixture.
I served the baked tortellini with tossed salad and
fresh bread sticks. What did my husband think of dinner? He went back for
seconds… *Smile*
Ingredients:
18 ounces of tortellini
1 jar of spaghetti sauce, I use Prego Traditional sauce
Small onion, diced
2 Tablespoons garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon ground thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ cup parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded cheese variety your choice, I actually
used a 4 cheese Mexican blend by Kraft.
Directions:
Preheat to 450°F
Cook tortellini per package instructions while in a
small pan sauté onions and garlic. When onions are almost translucent, add
basil, oregano and thyme.
Spray a 9X11 glass-baking dish with non-stick cooking
spray like Pam.
Transfer onion and spices mixture to the glass dish,
spread evenly on the bottom.
Drain tortellini, then pour on to the onion mix, pour spaghetti
sauce over tortellini then top with cheese.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.
