Tortellini

A quick-fix dinner thanks to store-bought tortellini and chicken broth.

A splash of cream is the secret to achieving an indulgent, delicious pasta sauce on a weeknight.

Looking for a pasta recipe with impressive flavor and which has practically no prep involved? You've come to the right place.

In this recipe, a creamy parsnip purée stands in for a traditional béchamel.

There are not many meals that are easier than this one, which transforms prepared tortellini and marinara sauce into a rich, savory, comfort-food meal. Just add a salad and you’re done.

Use either fresh or frozen tortellini for this soup, a twist on the traditional tortellini en brodo that is a traditional Christmas dish all over northern Italy. White beans and the pancetta make this one very hearty and even more flavorful.

Garth has to claim this recipe because he modified my basic pasta salad to suit his tastes and changed it completely! He likes to eat it warm because he loves the way the cheese melts into the other ingredients, so he doesn’t wait for the pasta to cool down at all. He also says the secret to making the tomatoes taste so good is salting them separately. Who knew he was Gartha Stewart?

GINA Salad helps lighten the fare, and these green beans with cheese tortellini are a nice change from the traditional tossed salad. I am a big salad-eater, and there are a lot of women like me out there. Honey, we’re trying to stay as “fabulous” as we can, eating all those greens. We just have to mix it up a bit so we don’t get bored!

I made this one day when I was supposed to make dinner for my friends but didn’t have much time. They were totally impressed and begged for the recipe. It’s really fast to make because it uses premade tortellini. That may seem like a cop-out, but who has time to make tortellini from scratch? Plus, the sauce is super creamy and wonderful!

This Italian-inspired salad uses fresh cheese tortellini as its base. (You can find fresh tortellini in the refrigerated section of your local supermarket.) It’s a fun variation on the usual pasta salad suspects. Plus, it’s superconvenient because you can fix it up to a day ahead and serve it straight from the fridge. We love the way tortellini and mozzarella taste when they’ve been marinating in Italian seasonings and how nice the colors of the broccoli, tomatoes, and olives look when they are served together. That’s why we call this salad tricolore (Italian for “three colors”)!

With tortellini in the freezer and dried mushrooms and a carton of broth in your pantry, you can throw together this savory, filling soup in only half an hour.

Tortellini means “tiny cakes”; they’re small pasta nuggets filled with ingredients that range from plain cheese and vegetables to meats. They’re usually served at Sunday dinners, holidays (especially on Christmas Day), or on special occasions, because making them was a laborious task. But with the premade frozen stuffed pastas now available, you can make this dish in a flash any day of the week.

If you like those spinach and artichoke dips you get on the appetizer menu in restaurants, you’re gonna LOVE this!

Combine one filled pasta with one mild vegetable, and if you are lucky as I am, your kids might actually like this as much as you do! Serve this with fresh bread or focaccia and a platter of raw vegetables. Or, to make this a more sophisticated meal, serve with any of the mixed greens salads on pages 50 to 53, and some good wine.

Tortellini are often served in broth, but a quick sauce and some tender asparagus make them more substantial.

This time of year, corn adds a little sunshine to everything it touches: Its sweetness really pops next to cheese tortelloni and the salty jolt of prosciutto.

Even easier: Use purchased pesto to help speed up the preparation.