Tortellini in White Sauce

Tortellini, better known at my house as: "the little round pasta's" were the side this week. I was just hungry for something different. I wasn't up for making spaghetti. I'm saving the last of the tomato sauce for my son and his family when they come up for a homemade spaghetti night. (You are coming soon right David?)

I've warned my husband with a stern look, that this summer's garden needs to be half again as large and all in tomatoes! Last years batch just did not make it far enough AND it totally cripples my ability to create! I have to have tomatoes!!! PLEEEZZZEEE!

So, this week I fell back to an old stand by: White Sauce and what better to make with it but Tortellini!

When my son David was tiny we had to forgo anything with red dye #7 and #40. You can't imagine how many things that red dye is in! Thank God, he outgrew it. He would seriously bounce like Tiger out of the Winney the Pooh stories. Nothing could hold him down and the only solution was to let him outside to run it off when he accidentally got a hold of something. Then he would end up with a headache or a tummy ache and I would feel like a failure. Soooo! I got creative. In the beginning I made a lot of white sauces and later began experimenting with red sauces. I think I got pretty good at it if I do say so myself. (patting self on back)

If you haven't experimented with noodle dough you are missing out. Seriously! There are so many things you can make with the basic noodle dough recipe. (For this recipe I used 1 cup flour and 2 eggs plus one teaspoon of salt.)

White Sauce:
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup chicken/vegetable broth
2 - 3 tablespoons flour (toasted if you have some)
1 stick real butter (unsalted)
dash (or two) of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Over medium heat, combine milk, broth and butter. When butter is completely melted add in toasted flour, continuing to whisk until completely incorporated. Taste. Salt, Pepper and taste again. Add a dash or two of cayenne pepper. This is just to give it a little heat not make it hot. Hot is NOT the goal. Lovely, creamy, warm sauce is the goal. Watch this closely, the milk can and will scorch. Take it off the heat when it is thick enough to hold up over a noodle.

Tortellini: I've eaten them round and square. Both are filled with whatever you want to put in them. Both are folded basically the same way. So what is the difference? Time - kind of.

Cutting, Folding and stuffing the round tortellini - Roll your basic noodle dough as thin as you can with out tearing the dough as you flip it. Use a 3 inch biscuit cutter to cut your noodle dough into little rounds. Set them aside as you roll and cut your remaining dough. Wet your fingers in a cup of water and dampen one side of your round cut dough and place a pinch about the size of a garbanzo bean of whatever filling you have in the center. Fold over one side to meet the other and pinch lightly to close around the cut side. Using your index finger lightly against the filling side, bring the 'wings' to meet, squeezing slightly to create a solid contact. (You might need to wet the dough slightly to make it to stick.) Place them on a lightly dusted (flour) plate or tray as you continue your tortellini making.

Cut square tortellini - with a cutter or knife in to 3" length strips. Cutting again width wise at 3" so you end up with a 3 x 3 square. After wetting and filling as above, fold corner tip to corner tip to create a triangle. Using your index finger lightly against the filling side, bring the 'wings' to meet, squeezing slightly to create a solid contact. (You might need to wet the dough slightly to make it to stick.) Place them on a lightly dusted (flour) plate or tray as you continue your tortellini making.

You may stuff them with just about anything your heart desires. It just so happened that I had left overs from the lasagna I made a week or so ago. I combined the meat and cheese and used that as the filling. I only used a portion of it. Reserving the rest for another something that is TBA. (actually I don't know what that might be yet... lol)

When you have finished rolling all your tortellini place them in a soup pan of boiling salted water. They need a minute or two more after they pop up, and stay up, at the top of your water. I say taste one to see if its done enough for you. If not let it boil another 30 seconds to a minute and check again. Too done is not fun to eat and neither is underdone. So watch them closely. Drain well before serving. Top with sauce and enjoy!

Do you have a variation of white sauce you would like to share with me. I would LOVE to try it. 

Enjoy!

Kerri Downey