Easy Pre-Holiday Dinner Menu: Tortellini Bake and Skillet Cookie Recipes

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Impress your overnight guests with easy pre-holiday dinner menu, complete with a Sausage & Tortellini Bake and Caramel Butterfinger Skillet Cookie recipe.

13 days ’til Thanksgiving y’all. Which means, if you’re hosting, you’ve got 12 days or less until the guests start rolling in.  Time to get to planning.

If you’re like me, the Thanksgiving meal is a traditional affair.  A few new recipes (maybe), but most dishes are classics that have been in the family for decades.  It’s the other meals that I actually have to plan out.  Like the night before Thanksgiving when everyone’s in town. When people are tired and don’t feel like going out, and when you’ve already spent and plan to spend a lot of time in the kitchen and don’t need to add on to the work load.

For occasions such as these, let me introduce you to two recipes that everyone loves and are really easy to throw together with a few Nestle ingredients from Walmart.

First up, everyone raves about this Sausage and Cheese Tortellini Pasta Bake.

Simply brown your favorite breakfast or Italian sausage with sliced onion.  Make a simple sauce in the same pot, the toss in cooked BUITONI® 3 Cheese Tortellini, which cooks up in just minutes!

Pour into a baking dish and top with a little extra cheese for ooey gooey pasta bake goodness!  Serve with a side salad and bread for a complete meal.

If your guests have any room left after dinner, you’ll wow them with this Caramel Butterfinger Skillet Cookie.

Layer one sheet of NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Sugar Cookie Dough in a cast iron skillet, then top with BUTTERFINGER® Bits and caramel sauce.  BUTTERFINGER® Bits can be found in the baking aisle and displays and are perfect for holiday baking!  Top carmael and BUTTERFINGER® Bits with another cookie layer sheet and bake until golden.  I dare you to let it cool off a bit before digging in!  I love this recipe served warm with ice cream.   Holy Cow!

Sausage and Cheese Tortellini Bake

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Ingredients

• 20 oz. Buitoni Three Cheese Tortellini
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 white onion, sliced
• 1 lb. sausage, removed from casings (you could use Italian Sausage or breakfast sausage)
• Salt and Pepper, to taste
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 cup reduced-fat milk
• 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup of Mozzarella

Instructions

1. Heat broiler with rack in top position.
2. Cook Tortellini according to package directions but reduce cooking time by 3 minutes, drain and set aside.
3. In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat and add sliced onion. Saute until translucent. Add sausage and cook until browned through. Add flour and cook, stirring for 30 seconds.
4. Slowly add half and half and milk, whisking constantly. Season with salt and pepper. Add tortellini and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until mixture has thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan.
5. Transfer to a greased baking dish and top with Mozzarella. Broil until top is golden brown, 3-5 minutes.

Caramel and Butterfinger Skillet Cookie

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Ingredients

• 2 packages of NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Sugar Cookie Sheets
• 1 Package of Butterfinger Bits
• 1 jar of caramel sauce

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spread two sheets of NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® cookie dough (1 pkg) and smoosh (that's the technical term) into a cast iron skillet. Top with caramel sauce (keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edge), and 1 cup of Butterfinger Baking Bits. Repeat with another two sheets of NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® cookie dough. Top with another cup of Butterfinger Baking Bits, pressing them into the dough.
3. Bake for 30 minutes, or until deep golden brown. Cool on wire rack, for about an hour, before serving.

Are you expecting guests this Thanksgiving? What are you planning on cooking for them outside of the big meal? Check out this Pinterest Board featuring fabulous recipes for holiday entertaining for additional inspiration!