Smoked Sausage Tortellini Skillet

 

I know this is a food blog, but I was hoping we could talk about books today. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I like to read even more than I like to cook. As in, I'm never not in the middle of reading a book. When people hear how much I read, they sometimes can't imagine reading that much, while I can't imagine not reading that much. I'm the person who routinely has about 15 books checked out from the library at any one time...and that's not even counting the books my boys have checked out.

When I don't have time read...well, I make time. Whether it's reading on my lunch break at work (which I do every day), sneaking away for 30 minutes in the evening while the boys are playing elsewhere with Joe, or making low-maintenance dinners like this one so I can read a few pages while I'm cooking.

Back to books in a second, but let's talk about this meal first. We all loved this. The ingredients are nothing fancy, but they come together to form a really delicious and simple dish. The original recipe didn't call for peas, but I added them for a pop of color and sweetness and vegetable-ness. In addition to being delicious, this comes together start-to-finish in only about 15 minutes. While that's not a lot of time for me to read while it's cooking, that does equal more time to read after dinner, since both the cooking and the clean-up are so quick. It's a win-win!

So tell me, what's the best book you read recently? Some of my favorite recent reads are Eleanor and Park, After Her, Shadow and Bone, and The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells. If you'd like to talk books with me more, you can find me on Goodreads here!

Smoked Sausage Tortellini Skillet
adapted from Kevin and Amanda 

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound smoked sausage
3 cloves minced garlic
3/4 cup chicken stock
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 package frozen cheese tortellini

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Slice the smoked sausage thinly and add it to the skillet and cook until well-browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Add the garlic and cook and stir for 30 seconds.

2. Add the chicken stock, tomato sauce, heavy cream, and salt and pepper and stir until simmering and bubbly. Reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in the parmesan cheese until melted, then add the frozen peas and heat through.

3. While the sauce is simmering, cook the tortellini in boiling salted water according to package directions; drain.  

4. Add the tortellini to the skillet and stir gently to coat with sauce. Serve.

Vegetable Tortellini Bake

This is one of those recipes you can modify to include whatever vegetables you have on hand, and it's going to be delicious. In my case...well, I used pretty much All The Vegetables: zucchini, summer squash, bell pepper, carrots, peas, mushrooms, onions, and tomatoes. Since my boys love pasta so much, I thought I might as well sneak a ton of veggies into the sauce so they'd eat them along with the tortellini. Success! I'm telling you, that method rarely fails.

I adapted this pretty heavily from Better Homes and Gardens. Their method, to me, just seemed needlessly complicated. In addition to upping the amount of veggies, I also removed the chicken called for in the original recipe (this dish doesn't need it; it's hearty enough), used half whole-wheat tortellini, and added pesto to the sauce. The result was a hearty dish that somehow doesn't seem heavy, and one that's healthy and delicious too.

Vegetable Tortellini Bake

adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

2 9-ounce packages refrigerated cheese tortellini

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium carrot, peeled and diced

1 red onion, thinly sliced

1 medium zucchini, sliced into half moons

1 medium summer squash, sliced into half moons

6 ounces button mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 red or yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup frozen peas

1/3 cup chicken broth

1 cup milk

1 8-ounce package cream cheese at room temperature

1/4 cup pesto

Salt and pepper to taste

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9-inch casserole dish with cooking spray. Cook tortellini in boiling salted water; drain.

2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet. Add carrot, onion, zucchini, summer squash, mushrooms, and bell pepper and cook until vegetables are fork-tender. Add garlic; cook and stir for 30 seconds. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Add the milk and chicken stock to the vegetables and heat until bubbling. Add cream cheese and stir until melted. Add pesto and stir until fully combined. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.

4. Add the cherry tomatoes and the sauce mixture to the reserved tortellini and stir to combine.

5. Pour mixture into prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until bubbling.

Honey Teriyaki Chicken with Bacon Fried Rice

Growing up, I never ate fried rice. Eggs in rice always just sounded strange to me. I stuck with my plain old steamed white rice whenever we ordered Chinese food. Then I met Joe, and in the early days of our relationship we ate Chinese food a lot. And he always ordered fried rice. After much pestering from him, I finally consented to trying it, and realized that I’d been a fool for so long. Fried rice is delicious! In the years since, I’ve even developed my own at-home version that we enjoy frequently.

This recipe, my friends, takes fried rice to a completely new level with the addition of bacon. Yes, bacon! It’s also loaded with tons of fresh veggies to balance out all that bacon, and it’s this wonderful, savory, salty, delicious thing with all kinds of great textures: crisp bacon, soft eggs, peas that pop and bean sprouts that crunch. I served it with honey teriyaki chicken, which was a delicious sweet counterpoint to the rice, but this rice also would have been good on its own. It was definitely the star of this meal. This recipe makes a ton, so you’ll be eating it for days, but trust me: That is definitely not a bad thing.

Honey Teriyaki Chicken with Bacon Fried Rice
chicken adapted from Rachael Ray; rice adapted from Cooking with Cristine

For the chicken:

1 pound chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce

For the rice:

1 egg, beaten
1 pound bacon, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cups cooked rice
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup soy sauce

1. For the chicken, heat a small amount of vegetable oil in a large skillet. Season chicken with salt and pepper and cook until browned and cook through. In a separate bowl, combine chicken broth, ginger, honey and teriyaki sauce. Pour over chicken. Reduce heat and simmer until serving.

2. For the bacon, heat vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet. Pour egg into wok. As egg sets, lift edges letting uncooked portion flow underneath. When egg is done, move to plate and set aside.

3. In same wok, cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon to paper towels. Reserve 2 tablespoons drippings.

4. Saute mushrooms and onions in bacon drippings. Stir in rice, bean sprouts, peas, soy sauce, and bacon. Chop egg into small pieces; stir into wok and heat through.

5. Serve chicken over rice.

Farfalle Carbonara with Peas

A creamy, silky, luxurious carbonara has got to be one of my favorite meals on the planet. It's definitely one of my favorite things to order at Italian restaurants. I was so excited when I stumbled upon this recipe on Pinterest, because I thought it was a brilliant idea to add peas to carbonara. After I made this, the brilliance of that idea was confirmed; the peas add such a bright flavor to what is otherwise a heavy dish, and as a textural element they're perfect. In one mouthful you get the silky, rich sauce, the salty smoky crispy bacon, and the subtle sweetness and the pop of the peas. Heaven in a bowl.

I liked using farfalle for this so much that I'll probably use it or another short pasta every time I make carbonara from now on. It held onto the sauce so much better than a long noodle would have. This is the kind of meal I would serve to my family on a weeknight (since it takes much less than half an hour from start to finish), but that would also be appropriate to serve to guests. Simple, delicious, and a little bit luxurious -- this is definitely my kind of food.

Farfalle Carbonara with Peas

adapted from Jamie Oliver

16 ounces farfalle

1 cup frozen peas

1 egg

1 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper

6 strips bacon, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions in boiling salted water. During the last 2 minutes of cooking, add the frozen peas. Drain pasta and peas, reserving a cup of the cooking water, and keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, whisk the egg, cream, and salt and pepper in a bowl.

3. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp. Set bacon aside on a paper towel to drain and discard all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook and stir for 30 seconds.

4. Return the bacon to the skillet, along with the pasta and peas. Stir to combine, making sure the pasta is warm, and then add the egg and cream mixture. Toss together and loosen with a bit of the reserved cooking water if necessary. Add parmesan cheese until melted. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Serve immediately.

Primavera Risotto with Fried Eggs

Here it is, the first day of summer, and the recipe I’m sharing with you has the word “spring” in the title. D’oh!

Regardless of the fact that this is called a spring risotto, it's actually something that I would eat at any time during the year. In the spring and summer you can take advantage of all the fresh vegetables available at the farmers’ markets, and in the fall and winter it’s the perfect comforting dish to help you warm up on a chilly day. I’ve been sort of obsessed with fried eggs lately, but I don’t think I’m biased when I say that the egg on top of each serving is truly what “makes” this risotto. I love how the gooey yolk soaks down into the rice and coats the vegetables, adding a ton of flavor and an extra dimension of creaminess. The only thing I would do next time is add some sweet corn. I think it would work really well with the other flavors.

We love risottos of all kinds, but this one was particularly popular in our house. I’ll definitely make it again!

(One note: This recipe makes a ton of risotto. If you don’t do leftovers, you should definitely halve it.)

Primavera Risotto with Fried Eggs
source: slightly adapted from Epicurious

5 tablespoons butter, divided
2 cups chopped button mushrooms (about 5 ounces)
1 small onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 cups vegetable broth, divided
3/4 cup sliced carrots
2 cups asparagus, each spear chopped into 3 equal pieces
3 cups (or more) water
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for serving
1/2 cup shelled fresh peas or thawed frozen peas
4 large eggs

1. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Season mushrooms with salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in large pot over medium heat. Add onion; sauté until beginning to soften, 5 minutes. Add garlic; stir 1 minute. Add rice and stir until translucent at edges, 5 minutes. Add wine. Stir until liquid is absorbed, 1 minute. Add 1 cup broth. Simmer until broth is absorbed, stirring often, 3 to 4 minutes. Add carrots, asparagus, and 1 cup broth. Simmer until liquid is absorbed, stirring often, 5 to 6 minutes. Continue to add remaining broth, then water, 1 cup at a time, until rice is just tender and mixture is creamy, stirring often and letting almost all liquid be absorbed after each addition, about 25 minutes total.

3. Stir 1 cup cheese, peas, and mushrooms into risotto. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in large skillet over medium heat. Cook eggs, flipping once during cooking time, until whites are cooked through and yolks are cooked to desired doneness.

5. Mound risotto on plates. Using back of spoon, make hollow in top of each mound. Top each with egg.

Creamy Peas with Bacon

Lately I’ve been trying to do more interesting things with vegetables than steam them or roast them for a side dish, so when I came across this recipe I knew I wanted to try it. We all absolutely loved this, and actually, the peas outshone the chicken that I served them with. I mean, come on: peas, onions and bacon cooked together in a creamy, tangy, flavorful sauce? What’s not to love?

It’s a pretty decadent side dish, not something we should eat every week (even though I really want to, and Joe has already begged me to make this again soon, and Andrew is constantly asking for “More peas, peese,” and Will was practically lunging from his Bumbo seat to try to get a taste), but it’s a nice change of pace from my usual boring side dishes.

Creamy Peas with Bacon
source: adapted from The Hungry Housewife

6 pieces of bacon, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken stock
4 ounces softened cream cheese
1 bag frozen peas
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Pre-heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and sauté until crispy.

2. Add the onions to the skillet and cook until they begin to soften.

3. Add the butter and stir until melted. Reduce heat to medium. Add the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the chicken stock and stir until sauce is thickened and bubbly. Add cream cheese and stir until incorporated.

4. Add the peas and cook for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.