Tortellini with Broccolini and Summer Squash

I have this bad habit. I find these delicious looking recipes, write down all the ingredients on my grocery list, go to the store, buy them, return home, go to prepare the recipe, and find out I am missing half of what I need. Does this habit to other people, or am I just a forgetful ninny?

Case in point: for this recipe, which was originally "Tortelloni with Vegetable Sauce" I forgot the stewed tomatoes and tomato paste that created the sauce, fresh basil to toss in, and wound up substituting cheese tortellini for meat tortelloni and broccolini for zucchini (because my grocery store is still going under renovation and there was no zucchini). It's not even the same recipe.

Never the less, it still came out tasty. I should have blanched the broccolini first, and will correct for that in the recipe. However, I would use zucchini if you can find it--that was the whole point of this dish anyway.

Tortellini with Broccolini and Summer Squash
Serves 2

olive oil cooking spray
1 cup jarred tomato sauce (of your choice... we like Classico)
1-2 TBS broth or water
1/2 medium summer squash, cut into 1/4" rounds
1 cup broccolini, cut into 1/2 inch pieces and blanched
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
2 cups cheese tortellini
1 TBS grated Parmesan

1) Bring a large pot of water to boil. Prepare tortellini according to package directions.
2) Spray a non-stick skillet, generously with olive oil. Heat over medium heat until the pan and oil are hot. Add broccolini and summer squash. Sauté until the squash begins to brown, about 2 -4 minutes. Add garlic and Italian seasonings; sauté an additional minute or until fragrant
3) Add tomato sauce to the pan and stir. Add broth/water as needed to loosen the sauce. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
4) Add tortellini to the vegetable sauce. Toss until thoroughly coated. Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve.

Cheesy Sausage and Tortellini Toss

There was a used book sale at our local library branch and I bought two cookbooks! The first one is Cooking for Today: Better Homes and Gardens PASTA which seems to have lots of yummy but simple pasta recipes. This first one we tried was quick and simple because it calls for pre-cooked sausage. The original recipe suggested just dumping the sausage and broccoli in with the tortellini as it finishes cooking, but I chose to sauté the sausage first to get it browned, just because i feel like that give it more flavor (not really sure if it does). I also am not a big fan of swiss cheese, which the original recipe called for, so I used an italian cheeses blend. This came out pretty well, though I would suggest cutting the sausage and broccoli pieces so that they're about the same size as the tortellini. Also, a little salt and pepper goes a long way.

Cheesy Sausage and Tortellini Toss
from Cooking for Today: Better Homes and Gardens PASTA with mods.
Serves 2
8/10

1 1/2 - 2 cups dried tortellini
2 cups broccoli florets (i used frozen)
6 oz. fully cooked smoked Polish sausage, thinly bias-sliced
1/2 TBS butter
1/2 TBS flour
1 teaspoon caraway seed (I didn't have this so I used nutmeg)
1/2 cup milk (add more if the sauce is too thick)
1/2 cup shredded swiss or italian cheeses
1/2 TBS brown mustard

1) In a large pot cook tortellini in salted water, according to package directions, about 10 minutes. Add broccoli (and sausage, if you choose) and return to boiling, about 3 min, or until pasta is tender but slightly firm and broccoli is crisp-tender. Drain, keep warm.
2) Meanwhile, if you are sautéing the sausage instead of boiling, do so in a medium non-stick skillet over med-heat with just a drizzle of olive oil. Cook until sausage is slightly browned. Add to tortellini.
3) In same pan, melt butter. Gradually add flour while stirring until thick and blended. Add caraway or nutmeg and stir. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Add cheese and mustard, stirring until cheese melts.
4) Pour sauce over tortellini mixture and toss to coat.

Grilled Vegetables and Cheese Tortellini

I found the recipe as per request from the boy who wanted some sort of tortellini dish with a vinagrette and vegetables. Now, I must admit, I'm not a big fan of vinagrettes and I messed around alot with this one until it tasted ok to me. I don't remember the exact changes I made, but I'll note some ingredients you can add to change the taste. You can also buy your own favorite vinagrette dressing.

This is pretty quick and easy!

I loved this recipe because of all the different veggies and flavors and textures. Definitely a summer dish. The original recipe also called for using eggplant, but I replaced that with zucchini. Any summer vegetables will do. I used my grill pan, but you could easily toss these veggies straight onto your gas or charcoal grill. If it's winter, or you don't have any kind of grill, you can always sauté the vegetables as well... the recipe includes instructions for that.

Grilled Vegetables and Cheese Tortellini
from "Whole Foods Market : Recipes : Grilled Vegetables & Cheese Tortellini (with slight modifications)
Serves 2-3
9/10

9 oz. cheese tortellini
4 asparagus spears, tough ends snapped off
1 yellow summer squash, sliced lengthwise about 1/2" thick
1 zuchinni, sliced lengthwise about 1/2" thick
1 red pepper, corred and de-seeded
1 TBS olive oil
1/4 cup pitted black olives, such as kalamata
1/2 - 1 cup baby spinach
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup red wine vinagrette

Red Wine Vinagrette
4 large basil leaves, chopped
3 TBS red wine vinegar (I would suggest replacing half or even all of this with balsamic)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup olive oil (up this if theres too much vinegar)
1 TBS dijon mustard (this adds ALOT of flavor, so go easy)
sea salt, to taste
ground pepper, to taste
*sugar, to taste (to cut the vinegar)

1) Cook tortellini according to package directions, drain and set aside. Whisk together vinagrette if preparing your own.
2a) Grilling Vegetables: Preheat grill to med. heat. Brush vegetables with olive oil. Grill 3-5 minutes on each side, or until veggies are tender. Pepper should be slightly charred when done. Chop up veggies into pieces of equal size.
2b) Sautéing Vegetables: Chop vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over med-high heat and sauté veggies until tender.
3) Toss pasta with vegetables, olive, spinach, feta, and vinagrette.