Cheesy Sausage Tortellini
This pasta dish is creamy, cheesy, just plain down-home comfort food. I've really gotten into no-boil, one-pot skillet dishes. I've made several and friends and family have thoroughly enjoyed all of them. A special bonus is that they're easy to clean up and take less than 30 minutes to make. What's not to love?!
This pasta dish is creamy, cheesy, just plain down-home comfort food. I've really gotten into no-boil, one-pot skillet dishes. I've made several and friends and family have thoroughly enjoyed all of them. A special bonus is that they're easy to clean up and take less than 30 minutes to make. What's not to love?!
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 pound smoked sausage (can use smoked turkey sausage to lighten it up)
- 1 cup tomato sauce (or your favorite spaghetti sauce)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream or regular
- 9 ounces cheese tortellini refrigerated, 3-cheese type (i use buitoni)
- 1 tablespoon italian seasoning if desired
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper if desired
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese if desired
- Carbohydrate 55.3570335163562 g
- Cholesterol 290.216885782218 mg
- Fat 79.7887126921729 g
- Fiber 7.8534171036316 g
- Protein 71.8220328792824 g
- Saturated Fat 26.8495163556005 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (858g)
- Sodium 3613.63705393565 mg
- Sugar 47.5036164127246 g
- Trans Fat 8.88529185824999 g
- Calories 1222 calories
Step-by-step
- Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in 12" skillet over medium-high heat until it's just starting to smoke. Add sausage and cook until well browned, about 3-4 minutes per side. Add garlic and stir until golden and fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add broth, tomato sauce, cream, tortellini, salt and pepper, optional Italian seasoning (If using seasoned spaghetti sauce, you might not need), and crushed red pepper if desired (I tend to add this to nearly everything, it barely adds heat, just more flavor!)
- Stir to combine until simmering and bubbly.
- Cover & simmer over low heat for 12 minutes until tortellini are tender and heated through. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese, if desired, and serve hot.
Using a single twelve-inch skillet to brown meat and hydrate fresh pasta simultaneously requires strict adherence to heat control. Olive oil must reach the threshold of starting to smoke over medium-high heat before the smoked sausage goes in, or the meat will steam instead of developing a deeply browned exterior during its three to four minutes per side. Garlic demands constant attention during its brief thirty-second turn in the hot pan; letting it linger past golden brown introduces bitterness that heavy cream and tomato sauce cannot mask. Liquid ratios dictate success here, combining three-quarters cup of chicken broth with tomato sauce and dairy to generate enough steam under a tight lid to soften refrigerated cheese tortellini in twelve minutes on low heat. Skipping the lid traps insufficient moisture, leaving the pasta centers hard while the exterior starches overcook. Turkey sausage substitutes directly for pork without altering fat ratios, though standard heavy cream yields a more stable emulsion than regular milk when exposed to simmering tomato acids and grated Parmesan cheese. Monitoring the liquid reduction closely prevents scorching on stovetops that retain high residual heat after the initial browning phase.
