A quick and easy Hello Fresh recipe, this got a "super favourite" ranking from Alex. The recipe lists shrimp as an optional inclusion, cooked with the peppers; I think chicken or perhaps ham would also be tasty, if more protein is desired.

Creamy Rosé Tortellini with Bell Peppers

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp butter (or 2 tbsp butter + 2 tbsp olive oil)
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 2 large bell peppers, roasted and chopped into ~1cm pieces
• 2 tbsp flour
• 400mL crushed tomatoes
• 240mL heavy cream
• 1 bunch chives, finely chopped
• 700g tortellini
• 360mL mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Heat butter (and oil, if using) in a large, oven-safe skillet or pot over medium heat.
2. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, ~30 seconds.
3. Add peppers and cook until heated through and softened, 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add flour and stir until peppers are coated.
5. Add tomatoes, cream, and chives. Simmer, stirring often, until sauce thickens, 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and adjust seasoning as needed.
6. Meanwhile, cook tortellini (al dente if possible) and drain, reserving 160mL (⅔ C) cooking water.
7. Add pasta to sauce. Gently stir to combine.
8. Cover with cheese.
9. Bake at 450°F until cheese is golden brown and bubbly, 5-8 minutes.

This recipe was adapted from a recipe card in Cook's Country. The proportions have been significantly adjusted to match what we had on hand, and the kale is an entirely new addition, but apart from that it's prepared basically as written -- and it turned out great! It really does just need a single pan and a cutting board to prepare, comes together pretty quickly, and was a big hit with everyone. We actually ended up preparing two batches of it two days apart.

One-Pan Tortellini with Sausage, Cherry Tomatoes, and Kale

Cook's Country, December/January 2019, recipe card

Ingredients

• 500g italian sausage, peeled
• 4-6 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1L chicken broth
• 400g frozen cheese tortellini
• 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 500mL chopped frozen kale
• freshly grated parmesan
  

Directions

1. Heat oil in a deep skillet or dutch oven over medium heat.
2. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up, until browned.
3. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, ~1 minute.
4. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil, uncovered.
5. Add the tortellini and cook until not quite done.
6. Add the cherry tomatoes and kale and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until tomatoes are softened and kale is warmed through.
7. Stir in parmesan and serve.

This was pretty tasty, and while it took a while to prep it wasn't very difficult. The Kidlet was initially lukewarm on it, then decided that she likes mushrooms now and got a lot more enthusiastic about it.

Ravioli in Coconut Cream Sauce

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

• 700g ravioli or other stuffed pasta
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 60mL butter
  
• 500g mushrooms, sliced
• 330mL full fat coconut milk
• 30mL soy sauce
• 125g baby spinach
• 15 g basil, coarsely chopped
• chili flakes to taste

Directions

1. Cook pasta. Drain, reserving 120mL water, and set aside; you may wish to toss with a small amount of oil to keep it from sticking together while you cook the sauce.
2. Melt the butter in a large, deep skillet or saucepan over medium-high heat.
3. Add the mushrooms and cook until they release their liquid and cook down, 4-5 minutes.
4. Season with salt and pepper (remembering that the soy sauce will be quite salty), add the garlic, and cook until fragrant, ~30s.
5. Add the coconut milk, soy sauce, and reserved pasta. Cook, stirring often, until it thickens, anywhere from 2 to 10 minutes depending on how thick you want it.
6. Add the spinach and stir in until just wilted.
7. Toss with the ravioli and basil and serve.
   

I've had a buttercup squash lying around for a couple months now. The Kidlet and I were going to turn it into soup, but with the hot temperatures we're expecting this week, I decided that I really didn't want soup. It probably would've been easier to make some other sort of squash dish, but I really wanted ravioli. I took a look at Hazan's pasta book for recipes, but the only thing he had for squash-stuffed pasta used an obscure variety of Italian squash for which he recommended substituting sweet potato. After poking around online a bit, I found a recipe for squash and ricotta stuffed shells and figured I'd adapt that to my purposes.

Uncooked ravioli ready to go in the pot.

The original recipe called for two cups of butternut squash. I just used the whole buttercup, it was probably a bit more than two cups, but close enough that I wasn't too worried about it. I made some faux ricotta from powdered milk. I used garlic paste in place of the crushed garlic. And I swapped out the spinach for kale. Then, instead of stuffing shells and baking them, I just stuffed my ravioli and boiled it as normal, tossing it with the simple sage-butter sauce after draining.

Squash Ravioli with Sage-Butter Sauce

Adapted from Key Ingredient

Ingredients

Dough

• 2 c. pasta flour
• 3 large eggs
• 3-4 large egg yolks
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil

Filling

• 1 buttercup squash
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 2 c. ricotta
• 1/3 c. grated Parmesan
• 1 large egg
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 1/4 c. chopped kale
• zest of 1 lemon

Sauce

• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 10-12 sage leaves
• juice of 1 lemon
• grated Parmesan, to serve

Directions

Dough

1. Combine pasta flour, eggs, 3 egg yolks, and 1 Tbsp. olive oil and mix well. If dough seems to stiff, knead in another egg yolk and/or another Tbsp. of oil.
2. Knead the dough for a few minutes, then cover and set aside to rest while you prepare the filling.

Filling

1. Halve and seed the squash.
2. Brush it with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
3. Roast at 190°C (375°F) for ~1 hour.
4. Once the squash has cooled enough to handle, scoop the flesh from the skin.
5. Mash the squash and combine it with the ricotta, Parmesan, egg, garlic, kale, and lemon zest.

Assembly

1. Knead the dough until smooth and supple.
2. Divide into two or three portions.
3. Working with one portion at a time, roll it out very thin. Try to apply pressure outward and not down. The dough should be stretched rather than compressed.
4. Cut circles out of the dough, 5-7cm is generally a good size. Keep them covered so they don't dry out.
5. Place a small amount of filling on each circle.
6. Wet the edge with a bit of egg white.
7. Fold in half and press to seal.
8. Place on a flour-dusted plate while you assemble the rest of the ravioli. If you need to pile more ravioli on top, dust the underlying ones lightly with flour to stop them from sticking together.
9. Once all the ravioli have been assembled, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook for 1-3 minutes, then drain.
10. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce.

Sauce

1. Melt the butter over medium heat.
2. Add the sage leaves and cook, swirling occasionally, until butter has browned.
3. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

Serving

1. Toss cooked ravioli with sauce.
2. Served topped with grated Parmesan.

These casunziei (basically half-moon shaped ravioli) were really tasty. The poppy seed sauce didn't really seem to complement them that well though. I think next time I might experiment with some sort of cream sauce. Maybe something with a crème fraîche base. I'm not entirely sure, but I think something with a mild tartness to it would go well.

Beet Casunziei

Slightly adapted from Great Italian Chefs

Ingredients

Pasta

• 300g pasta flour
• 3 large eggs
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 egg yolk

Filling

• 500g beets
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg white
• 100g ricotta
• salt and pepper, to taste
• breadcrumbs

Directions

Preparation

1. Combine flour, eggs, oil, and yolk to make a smooth dough.
2. Wrap up tightly and chill for at least 30 minutes.
3. Steam and peel the beets. (InstantPot works well for this: high pressure 20 minutes, 10 minute natural release.)
4. Purée the beets and place them in a fine mesh strainer to drain for 10 minutes or so.
5. Stir together beets egg, egg white, ricotta, and salt and pepper.
6. Add enough breadcrumbs to create a smooth but not runny filling (~1/4 c. give-or-take).

Assembly

1. Take ~1/3 of the dough and roll it out very thin.
2. Cut out as many 7cm circles as possible.
3. Place a scant tsp. of filling on each circle.
4. Fold over to create a half moon shape and press edges to seal.
5. Crimp with fork.
6. Repeat with remaining 2/3 of dough.
7. Combine dough scraps and roll out again to make more casunziei.

Storage and Cooking

1. If not cooking immediately, place casunziei in a single layer on a parchment-lined plate or baking sheet and freeze. (You will need to work in batches.)
2. Once frozen, they can be transferred to a Ziploc bag and kept in the freezer for a few months.
3. To cook, bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil, add pasta, and cook until it floats (3-5 minutes depending on whether or not you're cooking from frozen).

Serving Suggestions

1. The original recipe suggests sautéeing the cooked pasta in some butter with poppy seeds and then topping with grated Parmesan. This is okay, but doesn't seem like an ideal complement.
2. Next time I'd try crème fraîche mixed with a little olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and then serve topped with Parmesan. Maybe add a touch of milk and/or white wine to the sauce if the consistency needs adjusting.