I invited a gal pal to drop in last minute to my house with her kiddos for a morning playdate not long ago. I needed some company and an excuse to get the heck away from my computer. She needed to get her kids out of the house and to chat with an adult. Perfect.
Except… I hadn’t been grocery shopping in forever, and we had eaten our last frozen pizza the night before. So I went to the pantry and picked out a staple of mine – a box of tortellini – and searched the world wide web for a recipe with ingredients I had on hand. I found one that was close and improvised from there. We ended up with a winning recipe that everyone enjoyed. I think you might too…
Cheesy Baked Tortellini with Pepperoni
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
- 12 oz. bag of dried tortellini (or any pasta you happen to have on hand) cooked to just al dente (at least one minute shy of package directions) and drained
- One 15 oz. can of tomato sauce
- 4 oz. (1/2 block) of reduced fat cream cheese, softened in microwave
- 2 tsp. oregano
- dash of red pepper flakes, optional
- 1/2 cup of sliced pepperoni (or pepperoni minis), optional
- 1 cup of shredded mozzarella
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, blend tomato sauce, cream cheese, oregano and red pepper, if using, until smooth and creamy. Gently fold in (cooked) tortellini and pepperoni, if using. Spoon into casserole dish and top with mozzarella. Cover and bake until the sauce bubbles and the cheese on top melts. Remove cover, and place under the broiler for a few minutes until golden in spots.
Enjoy!
Sounds like a great recipe. Will have to try this.