I LOVE my slow cooker.  I use it as much as possible and am always scouring the web for new recipes.  This recipe is a mixture of several different recipes.  I wanted something creamy but not soup, which was most of the slow cooker recipes using tortellini, and no meat.

So, I tried this.  It was very good.  I had to be cautious not to over cook the tortellini.  Unless you can check on this several times I would not use this recipe until you know exactly how long your slow cooker will take to cook it and can program it to change to warm at just the right point.  Otherwise you will have a big plate of creamy goo.  My slow cooker tends to run on the hot side so things, even on low, tend to cook a bit faster than most recipes.  I am aware of this and can adjust cooking times to fit my slow cooker.

My kids each ate two HUGE bowls of this and I still had enough for lunches the next day.  I served this with a spinach salad to round out the meal.

Ingredients:

• 2 (1 lb.) bags of cheese tortellini, frozen
• 2 (16 oz.) cans of diced Italian seasoned tomatoes
• 1 (8 oz.) block of cream cheese, cut into 12 cubes
• 1 cup of chicken stock, plus extra if needed
• 1 small (5 oz) package of baby spinach
• Parmesan Cheese, grated, for serving

Directions:

1. Spray inside bowl of slow cooker with non-stick spray.
2. Open 2 cans of tomatoes and pour contents, including the juice, into the slow cooker.
3. Add cream cheese to the slow cooker.
4. Pour frozen tortellini over the top of the tomatoes and cream cheese.
5. Add chicken stock to the slow cooker.
6. Layer baby spinach over the top of the tortellini.
7. Cover and cook on low for about 3-4 hours.  Check at 2 hours and stir.  If tortellini have soaked up most of the tomato and chicken stock add about 1/4 cup of chicken stock.  Stir again in the 3rd hour.  If tortellini are done to your liking lower heat to keep warm until serving.  Once tortellini are done, stir well and serve with grated Parmesan over the top.