Family Chow Hall

Creamy Garlic Tortellini

March 11th, 2006

Tortellini makes a refreshing change from spaghetti for a quick Italian meal. We call it turtle-ini because my eight-year-old has an affection for turtles.

There is no doubt here that fresh tortellini (or any pasta for that matter) is the best. However, most of us - myself included - do not have a pasta maker handy in our kitchen. The next-best choice for buying tortellini is to buy packaged fresh or frozen. Fresh tortellini can usually be found in the cheese or dairy section of your grocery, frozen is probably located near the garlic bread.

I buy frozen tortellini - it costs less and I can store it indefinitely until I’m ready to use it. It comes stuffed with Ricotta cheese and holds together well when boiled. Once bought, I have three main choices; I can make soup or creamy garlic tortellini, or tortellini with a red, spaghetti-like sauce. I’ll save the soup and red recipes for other Italian days.

Creamy Garlic Tortellini
serves 4 / prep. time: 20-30 minutes

1 bag frozen tortellini
2 T. butter
1 T. minced garlic
2 T. flour
1 c. chicken broth
1 c. milk, half n half, or even cream
1/4 c. (or more) parmesan cheese
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. white pepper

The tortellini only takes a few minutes to boil, so assemble the sauce first. You can have a pot of heated water ready to go so that the sauce doesn’t have to wait long to be poured over your delicious, steaming tortellini.

When making a white sauce like this, I try to have all the ingredients measured and handy - I don’t want to walk away from the stove to hunt for something.

First, melt the butter in a saucepan over low-medium heat and add the garlic. Next add the flour and combine. Now you will add the broth, a little at a time. The first addition of broth will turn your mixture into a paste. Soon it will be a slightly thickened version of chicken broth. Now begin adding the milk or cream in the same manner. As it cooks, it will continue to thicken.

Traditionally, alfredo sauce is made with cream, but a healthier version would use milk. When it’s sufficiently heated, add the parmesan, salt, and pepper, and stir until melted. Remove from heat and bring your water to a boil for the tortellini. Simply follow the directions on the package. Pour the hot white sauce over the drained tortellini and you are ready to munch.

Entry Filed under: Italian, Recipes, Supper, meatless