Creamy Sage, Sausage & Mushroom Baked Tortellini

Things around here have been mad crazy and I don’t suspect they will be slowing down, especially with the holidays coming around the corner.  Can you believe it!  The holidays are coming and they will be here sooner then you think.  Ugh, let’s not even discuss it.  It brings on a mixed mess of excitement and anxiety.   Also I have decided to get into this crazy blog competition which I hope I will get to continue till the end.  By the way today is the last day to vote for round 1 so click on my face right over there on the right and vote!  I got an interesting dish planned for round 2.   In the mean time I have cooked this beauty up to hold you over.

I had a bag of tortellini sitting in the freezer or awhile now and I had a feeling that it was time to bust it out and put it to good use.  The thing was I wasn’t really in the mood for a red sauce, I was feeling a white sauce would be better.   I knew I also wanted oozy, gooey, cheesy goodness.  I thought about it all morning.  I walked around the house while I cleaned thumping my head with my pointer finger saying, “Think, think, think.”  It was a little reminiscent of Winne the Pooh, which I am not sure is good or bad at the age of 31.

I started to think about how much I love the fall and I would love to had a little fall twist to the dish. Immediately I thought of sage and mushrooms and that is when it hit me, mascarpone, mozzarella, sage and mushrooms!  I don’t know why but I was so excited I grabbed my keys and purse and ran out to the grocery store.  Looking like a hot mess mind you, I was in the middle of sweeping and mopping the floor after all.  I am almost sure I had some hair standing straight up since I hadn’t put a brush in it yet. However this moment wasn’t about fashion, that was the last thing on my mind.  Obviously, since I was wearing paint splotched shorts out in public.   In fact if I had gone to Wal-mart I am sure that I would have ended up on People of Wal-mart, luckily enough Target was closer.   I wore my biggest shades and a baseball cap and prayed no one would recognize me in my hot mess condition.   I quickly gathered all of my ingredients and headed back home.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat with 1 tbs of olive oil.  Add sliced sausage to the pan and cook until evenly browned.  Using a slotted spoon transfer the sausage to a plate and set aside.

In the same pan saute garlic and onions, add mushrooms and saute at a medium heat until browned, about 10 minutes.

You don’t want to over cook the mushrooms because they are going to bake in the oven for an additional 30 minutes. They should be brown but still firm.

Prepare tortellini according to package instructions.  Drain, drizzle with olive oil, cover with a kitchen towel and set aside until ready to use.

In a food processor, combine mascarpone cheese and sage leaves, process until smooth.

Add mascarpone cheese mixture and sausage to the mushrooms, stir until smooth and creamy.

If using cream cheese it may be too thick, add a little bit of chicken broth to thin the sauce to a desired consistency.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Don’t be shy!  If you are afraid of over salting I recommend you get some kosher salt, it is hard to over salt when you use kosher salt.

Add mushroom cream sauce to prepared tortellini and toss.

Spray an 8 x 8 baking dish with non-stick spray.  Pour tortellini into baking dish.

Top with torn fresh mozzarella.  If you can get your hands on a fresh mozzarella I highly recommend it, it melts so much better and smoother then packaged shredded or block mozzarella.  The streachy, ooey, gooeyness cannot be beat!

Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is brown and bubbly.  Remove from oven and serve, garnish with minced sage.

Check it out!  Mushrooms, cream, sausage and cheese! Cheese people! I love cheese!  Your family is going to rain hugs and kisses on you, I promise.

I can’t tell a lie.  When I took my first bite I was immediately beaming with pride.  This stuff was good and for just a moment I was over come with a delirious case of “I think I am all that” (insert snapping fingers heat shake)  and stood proud on top of my royal blue counter top, arm raised and wooden spoon in hand, declaring myself the queen of creamy mushroom baked tortellini awesomeness.  Yeah I smacked my head on the drop ceiling but what did I care!  I was queen of creamy mushroom baked tortellini awesomeness.

Ok I didn’t do that….but I thought about it.  We all have our moments of grandiose illusions.

If I had had room I would have gone back for seconds and thirds but this is pretty filling.  The tortellini was perfectly cooked, the mushrooms made it earthy and the sage gave me my first taste of fall.  The great thing is that this is easy to change up.  If you don’t like sage, use basil.  If you don’t like mushrooms, caramelize some cubed butternut squash in a pan with butter.  And if you want to get really creative, I bet some chopped pecan and dry cranberries would be great in this.  Mmmmmm!

I think I see another variation in the future.

Print Recipe

Creamy Sausage & Mushroom Baked Tortellini

• 3 links mild Italian sausage, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 6 oz baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 1 lb bag of frozen cheese tortellini
• 8 – 10 leaves of fresh sage
• 8 oz of mascarpone cheese or cream cheese
• 5 oz of fresh mozzarella

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat with 1 tbs of olive oil.  Add sliced sausage to the pan and cook until evenly browned.  Using a slotted spoon transfer the sausage to a plate and set aside.

In the same pan saute garlic and onions, add mushrooms and saute at a medium heat until browned, about 10 minutes.

Prepare tortellini according to package instructions.  Drain, drizzle with olive oil, cover with a kitchen towel and set aside until ready to use.

In a food processor, combine mascarpone cheese and sage leaves, process until smooth.  Add mascarpone cheese mixture and sausage to the mushrooms, stir until smooth and creamy.  If using cream cheese it may be too thick, add a little bit of chicken broth to thin the sauce to a desired consistency.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Don’t be shy!

Add mushroom cream sauce to prepared tortellini.  Spray an 8 x 8 baking dish with non-stick spray.  Pour tortellini into baking dish.  Top with torn fresh mozzerella.

Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is brown and bubbly.  Remove from oven and serve, garnish with minced sage.

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Remember today is the last day to vote for Round 1 of Project Food Blog!  Voting closes at 8 pm CT.