Tomato and Cheese Baked Belly Buttons (Tortellini)

Submitted by Dreamer in Ontario

"I'd like to make this recipe for DD soon. From Longo's Experience Magazine. To make ahead of time prepare casserole up to step 8, cover and refrigerate before baking for up to 1 day. When ready to bake, cover and bake for 30 minutes or until hot throughout."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 1 (500 g) package cheese tortellini, fresh
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small zucchini, grated
• 1 small carrot, grated
• 1⁄2 red pepper, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 cups pasta sauce (tomato basil flavor or your favourite)
• 1 cup ricotta cheese, fresh (optional)
• 1 cup pizza cheese, shredded
• fresh parsley (optional) or fresh basil, chopped (optional)

directions

1. In large pot of boiling water, cook tortellini until tender but still firm (about 8 min).
2. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, drain tortellini and return to pot.
3. In large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat and cook zucchini, carrot, red pepper, oregano and basil, stirring constantly, for 8 minutes or until vegetables are softened.
4. Pour in pasta sauce and reserved cooking water and bring to a boil.
5. Pour over tortellini and stir well to combine.
6. Scrape tortellini mixture into a 10 cup greased casserole dish.
7. Dollop the ricotta over tortellini by the tablespoon (if using).
8. Sprinkle with pizza cheese.
9. Cover and bake in 375F oven for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and tortellini are hot.
10. Sprinkle with parsley or basil if using.

Reviews

[Karen Elizabeth]

Delicious, we so enjoyed this!!!! I did add cream to the sauce to make it more of a rosa sauce, we do like a creamy sauce, and since I was a bit short on fresh vegetables I used frozen. great comfort food!!! Thanks for sharing, made for Culinary Quest 2019, Italy, the FeedBags

 

[jessi_mcg]

This was really good! DS gobbled it up like a champ, despite his usual dislike of squash. I'd venture to say he never knew it was there! For the adults, the veggies lent a nice sweetness to the sauce. I used portabello and ricotta stuffed pasta I had on hand instead of tortellini, which sort of lost the belly button idea but oh well! I also lightened it up a bit by only using chunks of fresh mozzarella scattered over the top instead of both ricotta and pizza cheese. If you have oven-safe pans this can be pretty close to a one-dish recipe; I made my sauce in a cast iron skillet and thought "why not?" and just mixed in the pasta, threw on the cheese, and chucked the whole thing in the oven! Thanks for posting, Dreamer--I know I will make this again! Made for PRMR.