This is another one of Iyer's fusion recipes. The tortellini get stired into a mushroom-y sauce of sour cream that's been seasoned with chilies, garlic, garam masala, and dill. I was a bit short on sour cream, so I also mixed in a bit of plain Greek yogurt to stretch the sauce a bit. I don't think I'd want to do it as an all-yogurt sauce, but the mix worked well.

Tortellini with Mushroom Cream Sauce

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. canola oil
• 450g cremini mushrooms, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-4 dried red Thai, arbol, or cayenne chilies, gently pounded
• 400g light (3-5%) sour cream
• 1/4 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. Kashmiri garam masala
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh dill
• 425g cheese tortellini

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the mushrooms, garlic, and chilies and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms release their liquid and start to brown (12-15 minutes).
3. Add the sour cream and yogurt and reduce heat to medium-low.
4. Add the salt and garam masala, cover pan, and cook, stirring occasionally for another 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the tortellini according to package directions.
6. When the sauce is done simmering, stir in the dill and remove from heat.
7. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce.

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.

Cabbage-Lentil Minestrone with Cheese Tortellini

After a couple days we were down to half a pot of soup again, so I decided to make a few more modifications to turn it into yet another new soup. This time I wanted to take it in more of a minestrone direction. More veggies, some extra tomato paste, and a package of cheese tortellini did the trick quite nicely. I really like this version! And I've really enjoyed seeing how many times I can keep building on and adding to the original lentil-cabbage soup as well.

Cabbage-Lentil Minestrone

Ingredients

• 1/2 recipe of Smoky Chickpea, Cabbage, and Lentil Soup
• 1-2 c. vegetable broth
• 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 c. cooked kidney or cannellini beans
• Parmesan rind
• 1 (400g) package cheese tortellini
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1-2 carrots, chopped
• 2-3 ribs celery, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 c. water (optional)
• 1-2 small zucchinis (courgettes), chopped
• 450g green beans, chopped
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. red chile flakes
• salt and pepper to taste¹

Directions

1. Add broth, tomato paste, oregano, bay leaf, kidney/cannellini beans, and Parmesan rind to soup, cover, and bring to a simmer.
2. In a separate pot, cook tortellini until al dente, drain, and rinse/shock with cold water.
3. Add tortellini to soup.
4. Heat olive oil over medium heat.
5. Add onion and cook for 2-3 minutes.
6. Add carrot and celery and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
7. Add garlic and cook for another minute or so.
8. Add zucchini and cook for 3-4 minutes.
9. If necessary, deglaze pan with water.
10. Add green beans, cover, and cook for 1-2 minutes.
11. Add vegetable mixture to soup.
12. Add chile flakes, salt, and pepper and mix well.
13. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.

---

¹ I was using home-made broth with almost no salt in it, so I added ~1/2 tsp. of coarse sea salt to my soup. You may need more or less depending on your taste and the broth you use. ^Back

symbol and I both found this delicious and went back for seconds, while the Kidlet carefully ate around all the tomatoes and spinach. Oh well.

The recipe here is modified slightly from both the recipe as written and the recipe as cooked:

• When cooking it, I omitted the lemon juice called for in the original; the lemon zest adds enough citrus flavour.
• It was cooked with both cherry and grape tomatoes; I've written it for cherry tomatoes alone, since I generally prefer those, but using a mix or even substituting in grape tomatoes will be fine if you can't reliably source cherry tomatoes.
• The Hello Fresh "parmesan cheese" that came with this recipe didn't really behave like parmesan; it both tasted and behaved more like mozzarella. I've written parmesan into the recipe, but I think using mozza and then topping it with parmesan at serving would also be fine.
• We made it with cheese tortellini, but I think other tortellinis would also work fine.

Tortellini with Cherry Tomatoes and Pine Nuts

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

• 500g tortellini
• 56g pine nuts
• 2 shallots, minced
• 5 large garlic cloves, minced
• 500g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 125mL basil pesto
• 125mL freshly grated parmesan cheese
• zest from 2 lemons
• 113g baby spinach
• 60mL unsalted butter
• 14g fresh basil, shredded

Directions

1. Bring 2.5L water to a boil. Add 10mL coarse salt and the tortellini and cook until tender, 2-3 minutes; reserve 250mL of cooking water, drain the tortellini, and set aside.
2. Heat a large, deep pan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and toast, stirring frequently, until golden brown, 4-5 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.
3. Add 30mL oil and the shallots to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4-5 minutes.
4. Add the garlic and tomatoes and cook for another 4-5 minutes, until the tomatoes start to soften.
5. Add basil pesto and reserved pasta water. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, 5-10 minutes depending on desired thickness (note that it will thicken slightly further in the next steps).
6. Reduce heat to low. Season with pepper and stir in tortellini, lemon zest, parmesan, and butter.
7. Add spinach and stir and/or cover as needed until spinach wilts.
8. Remove from heat and add basil and pine nuts.

Creamy Basil Pesto Cheese Tortellini Pasta with Crispy Bacon & Corn

This Hello Fresh recipe, while tasty, could use some work. The original recipe — the one we followed — calls for shallots and bell peppers. The bell peppers, however, don't integrate well; they remain crunchy, and defy the fork while contributing little to the dish overall.

The recipe recorded here is a proposed modified version which swaps out the peppers for mushrooms and peas. Asparagus might also make a tasty additive.

Creamy Basil Pesto Tortellini Pasta with Crispy Bacon & Corn

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

• 500g tortellini
• 200g bacon, sliced into ~2cm strips
• 450g cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
• 80mL basil pesto
• 115g corn kernels
• 125mL? cooked frozen peas
• 60g freshly grated parmesan (plus more for topping)
• 150mL sour cream

Directions

1. Cook the bacon over medium-high heat until just crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon. Drain the pan, reserving ~30mL of the bacon grease.
2. Add the shallots and mushrooms to the pan. Sautée over medium heat until the mushrooms have released their moisture and softened and the shallots are soft and translucent.
3. Meanwhile, cook the tortellini and drain, reserving 125mL of the cooking water.
4. Reduce heat to low. Add the peas, corn, pesto, sour cream, parmesan, and reserved cooking water. Stir together and simmer gently until all ingredients are warmed through.
5. Add the bacon and tortellini to the sauce, toss to combine, and serve.

Cheese Tortellini with Beef and Cream Sauce

This particular dinner didn't come so much from a recipe as a quick description of a friend's dinner. It sounded easy and tasty though, so I figured I'd give it a try.

Cheese Tortellini with Beef and Cream Sauce
1 lb. ground beef
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can condensed golden mushroom soup
2 cans of milk
2 packets onion soup mix
sliced cremini mushrooms (I think I had about half a pound)
black pepper, to taste
1 1/2 lbs. cheese tortellini
grated Parmesan, to serve

This came out quite tasty, but not perfect. I'd like to try to tweak it a little bit to see if I can really get that flavour I'm looking for. I have a few ideas that I'd like to try out next time to improve it a little bit.

Improved Cheese Tortellini
1 lb. ground beef
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can milk
1 can white wine
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 packets onion soup mix
1/2 lb. cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 c. frozen peas
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 lbs. tortellini (cheese or cheese & asparagus)
grated Parmesan, to serve

1. Brown the ground beef in a frying pan. Add to crock.
2. Heat the olive oil in the pan and add the onion. Sauté until it just begins to brown. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two. Add to crock.
3. Reconstitute the soup with one can of milk and one can of white wine and add it to the crock.
4. Add remaining ingredients (except for Parmesan), stir to combine, and turn on high for 1 hour.
5. Top with grated Parmesan and serve.

For my initial run-through I didn't precook the beef. This worked fine, but I think the flavour would've been better if I'd browned it a little first. I think some sautéed onions would've gone a long way as well. And garlic.

I generally find Worcestershire sauce to be a pretty solid choice to go with beef. Hopefully it'll be a nice addition to this sauce. A full tablespoon might be a bit on the heavy side, but the husband and I are both big fans of the stuff, so I'm not too worried about overdoing it.

I don't think the frozen peas are really necessary, but it makes me feel like the dish is slightly more balanced so, if they don't detract from it, I'd like to try including them next time. I think the thyme and parsley will go well with the white wine and the creaminess of the sauce. I debated about the bay leaf, but I think I'll toss one in next time and see how it comes out.

The cheese tortellini worked nicely in this dish, but I feel like an asparagus-stuff pasta would also complement the sauce well, so I may give that a try if they have anything appropriate on sale the next time I feel like making this. Using a pasta that at least nominally contains additional vegetables would also make me feel slightly more virtuous when making this as a one-pot meal as well.