Yes, that does say Cheese Tortellini AND Ravioli.  I bet you can all guess what happened.  I remember I had bought two packages of tortellini back a few months ago when they were on sale because I try to only buy items when they are on sale.  What I didn’t remember is making another dinner with one of the bags of tortellini.

When I went to make dinner last night I looked at how many tortellini were in a pound and evaluated how hungry my family was and decided that one bag of tortellini was not going to be enough.  So, as we are in a No-Buy month I went searching through the freezers to figure out what to do.  I found a half bag of cheese ravioli.  Perfect.  I am trying to use all the items from my freezer to get it cleaned out before the end of the month.

This dish was also going to use up the last 1/2 lb of shrimp I had in the freezer.   Unfortunately I took the shrimp out of the freezer and set them on the counter rather than put them in the refrigerator.  Oops.  So 6 hours later they went into the garbage.

I love Tim Gunn on Project Runway.  “Make it work,” has become my mantra.  Even my kids say it now when something goes wrong.  We will “Make it work.”

Verdict:

My family liked this dish far more than I did.  It was a good dish.  It was hearty and filling.  It was great comfort food but it was just too bland for me.  The rest of the family really liked it and my daughter even took the one last serving for her lunch today.  I like flavor but I guess you don’t need heavy flavors all the time.

I served this with a spinach salad and baby green peas.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs frozen cheese tortellini and ravioli (all of one or a mixture of the two is fine)
• 16 oz can of tomato puree
• 1 TBSP dried thyme (crush slightly in your hands as you add it to the sauce)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 4 TBSP olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups of half and half  (I used fat-free)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• extra Parmesan cheese for garnish

Directions:

1. Boil tortellini and ravioli according to package directions until very al dente.
2. In a large skillet or wok heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add garlic and thyme to pan and stir for 2-3 minutes until garlic becomes fragrant.
3. Add tomato puree to garlic.  Stir well and heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. When pasta has cooked drain the pasta and add to the tomato mixture.   Stir well and lower heat to medium-low.
5. Stir half and half into tomato and pasta mixture. Allow it to cook until the sauce starts to thicken slightly.  Do not boil!
6. Once sauce has begun to thicken add Parmesan cheese and stir until completely melted.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Serve immediately with extra Parmesan for garnish.