Fifteen-minute tortellini in a creamy romesco
The tortellini cook in the sauce they are served in, so there is one pan.
At a Glance
Story
Romesco is roasted red peppers, toasted almonds, garlic, sherry vinegar and olive oil, blitzed. Two minutes in a small processor and you have a jar's worth for a week of dinners. The almonds are structural rather than decorative: they are what makes it a sauce with body rather than a purée that slides off the pasta.
Ingredients
- 9 oz fresh cheese tortellini
- 10 oz hot Italian sausagecasings removed (optional, it is a good dish without)
- 1 bell pepperseeded and thinly sliced
- 3 oz baby spinach
- 3 tbsp romescofrom a jar or made below
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan
- olive oilsalt, pepper
Method
Fifteen minutes, and the only pan is the one it comes to the table in. The sausage is genuinely optional here, as this was ordered vegetarian more often than not.
- Seed and thinly slice the bell pepper. That is the entire prep.
- Brown the sausage in a large high-sided pan over medium high, broken up, 4 to 5 minutes, undisturbed at first. Pour off the fat.
- Pepper in, seasoned, 3 to 4 minutes, until it gives and the sausage is cooked through.
- Tomato paste, stirred hard for under a minute, until it darkens.
- Everything else at once: tortellini, spinach, cream, romesco and 1 cup of water. Season. 4 to 5 minutes, stirring, until the spinach collapses and the tortellini are hot and swollen.
- Parmesan over the top.
If the sauce tightens while you are finding forks, a splash of water brings it straight back.
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