Tortellini Bake

A couple of weeks ago we ate Our Best Bites Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce for dinner. I made it without the bacon or the bacon grease (I used butter instead) and it was pretty good. A few days ago I made Chicken Piccata from Second Sister Suaviloquy. We had leftover chicken, so I made Laura's Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza. Tonight we are finishing off the chicken and the bacon with a variation of the Tortellini Spinach Bake.

I used butter for the white sauce, and added the chicken, but it is otherwise mostly the same.

Here's my variation:

12 oz bag Barilla Cheese & Spinach Tortelini (find them in the dry pasta aisle)

4 oz bacon, cooked and broken into small pieces (about 4 strips bacon)

1 cup chicken breast, cooked and diced or shredded

3 cloves garlic, pressed in garlic press or finely minced

3 Tbs flour
3 C milk
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp dry basil
¼ tsp red pepper flakes (1/2 tsp or more if you like spicy)
1 medium lemon
2 C broccoli, roughly chopped
¾ C grated mozzarella cheese, divided
¾ C grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil. Add tortellini and cook according to package instructions. About half way through cooking time, add the broccoli.

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic to pan and cook until fragrant and tender, about 1 minute. Add flour to pan and stir with a whisk for about 1 minute. Slowly add milk and continue to stir with whisk until smooth. Add salt, pepper, basil, and red pepper flakes and bring sauce to a simmer.

While sauce is heating, use a microplane grater or a fine-holed cheese grater to zest lemon. Then cut lemon in half and remove juice. Add 2 teaspoons zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice to sauce (I just added all the juice this time and really liked it that way). Continue to stir until thickened, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Drain tortellini and place back in stock pot. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the cooked bacon and add the rest to the pasta mixture. Add spinach, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Add sauce and gently stir to combine. Place pasta mixture in an 8 x 11 baking dish and top with remaining 1/4 cup mozarella and 1/4 cup parmesan and also crumbled bacon.

Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, until cheese on top is melted and pasta is bubbly throughout. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.