Figuring out how to be a newlywed in this crazy world!

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Cheesy Baked Tortellini




I have been an admirer of Presto Pasta Night for a few weeks now. I am by no means a food blogger and I am surely not a chef but Chad and I had some people over to watch football today so I thought I would try my hand at a new pasta dish. I am so excited to add my recipe to Ruth's fabulous blog.

I went on Food Network and found Everyday Italian's Giada DeLaurentis's Cheesy Baked Tortellini. I changed it up a little bit and doubled the recipe.

Cheesy Baked Tortellini
4 cups Marinara Sauce
2/3 cup Mascarpone Cheese
1/4 cup chopped Parsley (it calls for Italian parsley, I used whatever was in my garden)
3 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves (at least I am pretty sure that is what I used from the garden!)
2 pounds frozen tortellini (it called for fresh but the frozen was on sale)
4 ounces thinly sliced mozzarella (originally called for smoked mozzarella but some reviews said it was too overpowering so I used regular, shredded would have worked just as well in my opinion)
1/2 grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 350*F (or forget to heat the oven until it is time to cook like I did.) Lightly grease or spray a 9x13 baking dish.

Whisk the sauce and mascarpone together in a large bowl. Add parsley and thyme.




Meanwhile cook the tortellini as directed, drain and return to the pan.
Add the the sauce to the tortellini and mix to coat.
Pour the tortellini and sauce into a greased 9x13 inch pan.


Top the mixture with the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.



Cover and bake until the cheeses melt and the sauce bubbles. The recipe said this would take 30 minutes, it took my oven a good 40.



It was SO delicious. The sauce had just the right amount of creaminess thanks to the mascarpone which was a new ingredient for me. The dish was very cheesy and rich. I fed 5 adults and a three year old with two huge leftover servings. I gave everyone a lot of pasta, however. The amount I made should have easily fed 10 adults. The dish is rich enough that a much smaller portion would have been enough for most people. I ate WAY too much because I gave myself too big a portion and couldn't stop eating once I started! So watch out!



I served the tortellini with delicious garlic bread from my best friend The Humble Housewife.



Everyone loved dinner and I can't wait to eat the leftovers at work this week for lunch!

4 comments:

Ruth Daniels said...

It sounds awesome and the picture "how to" is great! So glad you decided to share with Presto Pasta Nights. Keep those gorgeous pasta dishes coming!

One of the Bunch said...

Oh Amy, that looks SO yummy!!! Perhaps I'll give it a try myself. Thank you for sharing a new receipe. I'm always looking!

Dea said...

Sounds great Amers... I'm so proud of you! Isn't that garlic bread the shiz-nit? ;-)

Mrs. J said...

I am now soooo hungry!!!