Tortellini Primavera

When I realized that my Cooking Light magazine subscription had lapsed and I went to Amazon to renew it, they also had an Eating Well subscription for $5. I use the Eating Well website frequently to plan meals and decided that $5 for a year's worth of issues was a pretty good deal. Unlike Cooking Light, Eating Well deals almost exclusively with food. While I enjoy the other articles about fitness and travel in Cooking Light, I appreciate Eating Well's focus on food-related issues like seafood sustainability. It's a much smaller magazine than Cooking Light, but I still found several recipes I look forward to making.

This recipe came from the most recent issue of Eating Well, under their quick meals section. And wow, was this fast! Frozen tortellini and frozen vegetables came together under a creamy sauce in mere minutes. The lengthiest part of this recipe was waiting for the water to boil for the pasta. In addition, it was flavorful and cheesy but still light. Serving it with a side salad adds even more veggies to the meal!

Tortellini Primavera
source: Eating Well March/April 2010
5 servings

Ingredients

• 1 14-ounce can vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon, dill or chives or 1 teaspoon dried tarragon (I used 1 tsp dried dill)
  
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups chopped vegetables, such as broccoli, carrots and snap peas, or 16-ounce bag frozen mixed vegetables (I used an Italian vegetable blend.)
  
• 1 16-ounce package frozen cheese tortellini

Preparation

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil.
2. Meanwhile, whisk broth and flour in a small bowl. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until just beginning to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the broth mixture to the pan, bring to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in cheese, tarragon (or dill or chives) and salt.
3. Add vegetables and tortellini to the boiling water; return the water to a simmer and cook until the vegetables and tortellini are tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain; add to the pan with the sauce and stir to coat.

Nutrition facts can be found at the link above.