Cheesy Chicken Tortellini Bake

It was so beautiful outside today!! I do enjoy the winter season, but if it is going to be cold then I want to see snow. Lots of it. If it's not going to snow, then I'm ok with moving on to the next season. I absolutely love warm weather! My husband always teases me. He says, "It takes you 7 months of warm/hot weather before you're ready for it to cool off, but only takes you 2 weeks of cold weather before you're ready for it to warm up." :-)

We unfortunately didn't see any snow this year. It was a pretty mild winter, but still cool enough that I needed to wear ear warmers when I ran. So when the weather today was clear, sunny skies with a high reaching near 80°, I was super excited! After several months of cooler temps, having a day like today made me want to be outside in the sunshine and make margaritas. So that is what I did! I went for about an hour long run after work, soaked up that wonderful vitamin D, and got to enjoy the last bit of daylight on the back porch with a refreshing margarita! (Ignore the fact that it is in a martini glass - I need some margarita glasses!)

Anyways, on to tonight's recipe...

It was pretty good. It didn't make me jump up and down or anything, but it tasted good. It was a very quick and simple meal to put together, so it would be great for busy weeknights when you don't have a lot of time. I felt like you definitely tasted the Alfredo sauce over everything else. Although, the crumb topping did add a slight crunch and a little bit of a contrasting flavor that was good.

The recipe makes 6 servings, so I tried to reduce everything to make just enough for the two of us. I'm not sure at what point I went wrong, but the end product was more liquidy than I think it was supposed to be. The picture in the book looked more creamy. I just used a spoon that had slits in it when I served dinner so that some of the liquid could drain out.

So, again, nothing spectacular, but it did taste good and would be great for those nights when you don't have much time to focus on dinner! Enjoy!

Cheesy Chicken Tortellini Bake
Pampered Chef Stoneware Inspirations
Published by The Pampered Chef, Ltd. in 2005.

Prep and cook time: 10 minutes  Bake time: 15-20 minutes  Yield: 6 servings

Pasta Mixture
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 jar (16 ounces) white Alfredo pasta sauce
2 packages (9 ounces each) refrigerated cheese-filled regular or spinach tortellini)
1 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons snipped fresh basil leaves or 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves

Crumb Topping
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 cup fresh bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. For pasta mixture, chop onion using Food Chopper. In Professional (4-qt.) Casserole, heat oil over medium-high heat; add onion and garlic pressed with Garlic Press. Cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in pasta sauce, tortellini, chicken, milk, water, peas and black pepper. Heat until mixture just comes to a boil; remove from heat. Stir basil into pasta mixture.
2. Meanwhile, for crumb topping, grate Parmesan cheese using Deluxe Cheese Grater. Place butter in Small Micro-Cooker; microwave on high 30-45 seconds or until melted. Stir in bread crumbs and cheese; mix well.
3. Spoon pasta mixture into Square Baker; sprinkle with crumb topping. Bake 15-20 minutes or until edges are bubbly and topping is golden brown.