This Baked Tortellini with a sausagey tomato sauce is pretty basic but it’s ohhhh so good. It’s my comfort food weakness right now. Highly recommend dunking in there with some buttery garlic bread!
INGREDIENTS
Baked Tortellini:
1 tablespoon avocado or olive oil
1 lb. ground Italian sausage (I use a mild one for my kids, but spicy would be delicious)
2–3 carrots, chopped
2–3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 yellow onion, minced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
1 25-ish ounce jar of tomato sauce OR a can of San Marzano tomatoes
10–15 ounces of refrigerated cheese tortellini
1 1/2 – 2 cups chicken broth
2 cups baby spinach, torn
To Go On Top:
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
finely chopped parsley
1. Brown Your Sausage.
I like to let it sit for a minute so it gets *actually* crisped and browned on the outside.
Heat a very large oven-safe skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil and the sausage; break apart with a wooden spoon and brown until it’s got some nice color. Transfer to a bowl and drain out any of the oil that you don’t want (I usually drain off about a tablespoon, leaving a tablespoon in the pan).
2. Chop and Sauté Your Veggies.
I am lazy so I did my veggies in the food processor into a very fine mince. But you can also be proper and chop them.
If you’ve got some browning on the bottom of your pan – great. Add the veggies and they should start to pull up some of that yummy brown flavor. Add the fennel seeds. Cook until the veggies are fragrant and soft – you can add a bit of salt or oil if you’re feeling chefy. Then add the sausage back in.
Sausage gets cooked, veggies get cooked, then they both went back in together. Check out the browning on the sausage. YUMMO!
3.Add Tortellini, Etc.
Here goes the sauce and tortellini…
Add your tomato sauce, your tortellini, and 1 cup of broth. The pan will be full. Let it come to a low simmer and cook for 5 minutes or so to cook the tortellini. If you need more liquid to cook the tortellini, go ahead and add some or all of the remaining broth. Sometimes I just pop a lid on and leave it for a while on low heat.
And here comes the spinach. We’re going to simmer.
At this point I’ve made a very nice little mess. Typical.
4. Bake that Baby Up Under a Cheese Blankie.
I use shredded mozz and grated parm! Plus a bit of parsley for beauty.
Give it a taste – if you used canned tomatoes instead of a jar of sauce, it will probably need some salt. Add the spinach and stir it in until it wilts. Top the whole thing with the mozzarella cheese and pop it into the oven at 375 for 8-10 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and melty.
5. Eat This With Garlic Bread. Please. Yum.
It’s very carb-on-carb and it’s SO delicious. Chunks of garlic bread are the perfect vehicle to scoop up that flavorful tomatoey, sausagey sauce plus a bite or two of tortellini. OMG I’m drooling.
Sprinkle some grated parm on top along with some chopped parsley, and dunk into that baby with some chunks of garlic bread. SO GOOD.
