Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce

This pasta bake was absolutely delicious. I don't know if my family just eats way more than normal people (probably) or if this pasta is too small but between my husband, our three kids, and I we licked the dish clean ( much to my husbands dismay the next day at lunch time). Trust me it tastes way better than it looks. Oh, and do yourself a favor and add more bacon

Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce

Recipe by Our Best Bites

12 oz bag Barilla Cheese & Spinach Tortellini (from the dry pasta aisle)
4 oz bacon (about four strips--I'm telling you if you don't put in at least six you'll be sad)
3 cloves minced garlic
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoon dry basil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I used a little more than this and one of my kids thought it was too spicy, I thought it was just right)
1 medium lemon
2 cups loosely packed fresh spinach, roughly chopped
3/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese, divided
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350 dgs. Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil. Add tortellini and cook according to package directions.

Place bacon in a medium sized skillet and cook on medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan with slotted spoon and set on paper towels to drain. Reserve two tablespoons bacon drippings in pan and discard the rest. Add garlic to pan and cook until fragrant and tender, about one minute. Add flour to pan and stir with a whisk for about one minute. Slowly add milk and continue to stir and whisk till smooth. Add salt, pepper, basil, and red pepper flakes and bring sauce to a simmer.

While sauce is heating, use a microplane grate or a fine-holed cheese grater to zest lemon. Then cut lemon in half and juice. Add 2 teaspoons zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice to sauce. Continue to stir until thickened, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Drain tortellini and place back in stock pot. Reserve 1 tbs of the cooked bacon and add the rest to the pasta mixture. Add spinach, 1/2 c mozzarella, and 1/2 cup Parmesan. Add sauce and gently stir to combine. Place pasta mixture in an 8x8 pan and top with remaining cheese and crumbled bacon.

Cover pan with foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from oven and cool about 10 minutes.

Notes: You should double this, for sure. You'll be glad the next day when you don't have to eat PB&J. Also, I never could find dry tortellini, so I used some I found in the freezer section, turned out great!

Broccoli and Bowties

If I had to choose one dish, and only one dish, to eat for the rest of my life this would certainly be it. I mean sure, I'd probably rather choose lobster, but that is so rich it might get old after a week (or two). This dish is light and flavorful. I just feel downright healthy when I eat it (I can hear all you anti-gluten peeps sneering!).

When we were living in Texas and I was great with child, a dear neighbor and friend brought this dish to me, and it was perfect. At the time, everything, was making me very sick. I couldn't keep anything down (as per usual when I am pregnant). This just tasted so fresh and good, and I kept it down! Since then we've probably had this dish on average about once a week. We never get sick of it, the kids love it, and it comes together quickly. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Broccoli and Bowties

by: Cheryl, awesome neighbor in Texas

8 cups broccoli florets
kosher salt
1 lb farfalle (bow tie) pasta (or as you can see here, penne works just fine too)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 lemon, zested (buying a microplane was probably the best decision I ever made)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup toasted pignolis (pine nuts)
freshly grated parmesan

Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to a boil. Boil the broccoli for five minutes. Remove broccoli with a slotted spoon and place in a large bowl, set aside. In the same water, cook the bow-tie pasta according to package directions, about 12 minutes. Drain well and add to broccoli.

Meanwhile in a small saute pan, heat the butter and oil and cook the garlic and lemon zest over medium-low heat for 1 minute. Off of the heat, add 1 teaspoon salt, the pepper and the lemon juice and pour this over the broccoli and pasta. Toss well. Season to taste, sprinkle with pignolis and cheese, serve.

*Kristi's notes: Pine nuts can cost their weight in gold it seems. The best place I have found to purchase them is from www.nuttyguys.com. Over the last several months there have been lots of groupons available for nuttyguys where you can get $25 worth of product for $10, they also offer free pick-up at their warehouse in Salt Lake if you are local.

To toast your pine nuts place them in a dry saute pan over medium low heat and cook, tossing often until they start to turn brown. Don't walk away - trust me. There is nothing worse than over-toasting your pine nuts, unless as Janssen says, you like the salty taste of tears in your pasta.

Also, I have a motto in our house "lemon is good, but more lemon is better" and therefore I am very generous with both the lemon zest and lemon juice when I make this recipe, usually almost doubling those ingredients. I also have been known to sprinkle generously with lemon pepper seasoning.