FOOD IN A FLASH*: ONE POT TORTELLINI WITH BACON AND PEAS

HERE’S A ONE-POT PASTA DISH THAT TAKES ALL OF 25 MINUTES FROM START TO FINISH.

This quick dinner dish stars store-bought cheese tortellini in a lemony cream sauce. For a punch of smoky flavor, we added crumbled thick-cut bacon. To top it all off, sweet peas brighten the dish.  According to Ali Slagle, Recipe Creator extraordinaire, and mother of this invention, Pasta all Papalina, a more delicate version of Carbonara, was her inspiration. Pasta alla Papalina uses Prosciutto instead of Carbonara’s  Guanciale and Parmesan in place of Pecorino. And one other thing: Papalina often uses long noodles. Here a package of store-bought fresh tortellini is cooked right in the lemon cream sauce. This not only cuts down on the cooking time, the pasta’s starch helps the cream to thicken into a sauce. To order Whole Foods Fresh Tortellini, just click on the illustration at left.

WHO IS ALI SLAGLE? OUR JUMPING-OFF POINT FOR THIS RECIPE

Ali Slagle has appeared on Chewing The Fat just once before. (Here’s a link to her prior appearance: https://chewingthefat.us.com/2023/02/salmon-nicoise-with-orzo.html ) That seems like an oversight on our part. Ali is a food writer, recipe developer, and cookbook author. Today’s recipe came from The New York Times but Ali has also contributed to Bon Appetit and Food 52. She’s well-known for creating accessible recipes that home cooks can easily cook.  In fact, she wrote a whole book about them and it’s well worth having. You can order “I Dream of Dinner…so you don’t have to” by clicking on the cover right here:

*ABOUT FOOD IN A FLASH…

FOOD IN A FLASH is what we’re calling a collection of recipes that cut cooking times down to size by using Store-bought ingredients that have done some of the cooking for you.

HERE’S TODAY’S RECIPES AND SOME OTHER PASTA DISHES TO TRY

We recommend cooking the bacon in the microwave as the least greasy and quickest way of getting this dish on the table in just 25 minutes. If you are unfamiliar with this technique, take a look at this: https://www.allrecipes.com/article/how-to-cook-bacon-in-microwave/ Thank you ALLRECIPES!

ONE POT TORTELLINI WITH BACON AND PEAS

April 22, 2024

Servings: 4

Prep: 5 min

Cook: 20 min

Total: 25 min

Difficulty: EASY! IT'S FOOD IN A FLASH!

This quick dinner dish stars store-bought cheese tortellini in a lemony cream sauce. For a punch of smoky flavor, we added crumbled thick-cut bacon. To top it all off, sweet peas brighten the dish.

By: Monte Mathews

Ingredients

• 1½ tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more if needed
• 4 slices bacon (about 2 ounces)
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 16 to 20ounces refrigerated cheese tortellini
• 2 cups (10 ounces) frozen peas (no need to thaw)
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
• Salt and black pepper
• Zest and juice of ½ lemon (about 1½ teaspoons zest plus 1 ½ tablespoons juice)

Directions

• Step 1 Place 4 strips of thick cut bacon between double layers of paper towel. Put the bacon into the microwave and on high, cook it for 5 to 6 minutes. It should emerge crispy. If not, extend the microwave cooking time by a minute or two.
• Step 2 To a 12-inch skillet, add 1 tbsp. unsalted butter and the shallot and cook over medium until softened, 2 to 4 minutes, adding about ½ tablespoon butter if the pan is dry. Add the tortellini, peas, chicken broth, heavy cream, and nutmeg (if using) and season with salt and pepper. Simmer over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until the pasta and peas are tender, 3 to 5 minutes. (The sauce will thicken as it cools.) Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon zest and juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Crumble the bacon on top.

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