Tortellini with Pork and Green Sauce

Hiya Folks!

I have a quick delicious meal for dinner that I made last night and my good friend and fabulous cook, Jennifer Rooney (featured along with her husband, David in Friendly Foods) asked me for the recipe. So, here ya have it!!

When you've been running about all day or just coming in from work and need to make a dish that's quick, easy and fantastic in your mouth, pasta is always a great choice.  I chose tortellini because my husband loves it and I can always find an interesting variety in the food boutiques here in our tiny town. I only use the kinds that I find in the refrigerated section of the store, I am not a fan of the dry packaged kinds. That's my personal preference. My 2 favorites are the mixed mushroom filled or 3 cheese filled. For this dish I used the 3 cheese filled.

PASTA

500g package (serves 4-6)
prepare to package instructions
DON'T OVER COOK!!!
Tortellini will break up and become total chaos if over cooked.

Once it's cooked, I drain the pasta and drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil so that is does not get sticky. Don't drown it in oil or you'll have an oily, sloppy mess when you add your sauce.

Pork and Green Sauce

400g pork, thinly sliced
3 sprigs green onion, finely sliced
2 cups spinach, finely chopped
1 tbsp basil pesto (prepared or homemade, it's up to you!)
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, don't use canned peas. They get squishy.
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
6 shitake mushrooms, finely sliced
salt & pepper to taste
2 tbsps freshly grated Parmesan
1 tbsp olive oil

Heat a large, deep skillet over medium high heat and add olive oil. When the oil is nice and hot, add pork strips and sautee until most of the "pink" is gone but not completely cooked. Thin pork strips cook quickly and over cooking will make it tough and no fun to eat.

Reduce the heat to medium, add spices, chopped veggies, mushrooms and frozen peas. Sautee until the peas are warmed through. Add pesto and Parmesan cheese. once the pesto and cheese have come together with your other ingredients, turn off the heat. Add your cooked tortellini and gently mix together. Don't mix it roughly or you'll break up the pasta. It will still taste good, of course, but will look like a gelatinous mess!

This is a great meal, even for a dinner party with friends. The lovely shades of green with specks of red from the bell pepper make for a beautiful presentation.

Now...

Go, eat!!

If you enjoy the recipes, please share my blog with your friends. If you have a recipe you'd like to share in Friendly Foods, please send it in. Photos are also appreciated! teedycooks@gmail.com

Posted with Blogsy