Tortellini en Brodo

Last night I made tortellini. I froze some of them and used the rest to make tortellini en brodo. Although they came out great and taste fantastic, I did use some processed food to get there. Instead of making the pasta, I used wonton skins (which I already had in my fridge). I also used store bought ricotta and parmesan cheese.  Next time, my goal is to make the pasta and ricotta myself. Everything else in this recipe was scratch made.

Tortellini

1 package wonton skins (or better yet, home made pasta!)
15 oz part skim ricotta cheese
8 oz parmesan cheese (buy a block, do not use the canned stuff)
4-5 fresh basil leaves
1-2 tbs roasted garlic paste
fresh cracked black pepper
filtered water
corn starch

1. Combine cheeses, basil, garlic and black pepper in a food processor. Blend until smooth.
2. Sprinkle a smooth surface with cornstarch. Place a scant tablespoon in center of pasta, moisten edges of pasta with water and fold over to seal. Here's a quick video that can show you how to fold them way better than I can explain it. Thanks to http://www.chow.com/
3. Keep tortellini seperated until ready for use. If you are freezing them, line them up on a baking sheet and pop in the freezer. Allow to set for about an hour, then remove and store in a plastic container or zip top bag.

Tortellini are great in all kinds of sauces! To cook, bring water to a boil and drop in tortellini, if fresh cook about 3-4 minutes. If frozen cook about 5-6 minutes or until tortellini float to surface. Toss in your favorite sauce, devour.

Tortellini en Brodo (tortellini in broth)
Serves 4

1 liter beef broth
1 zucchini, diced
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 tbs oregano
1/2 tbs basil
1/2 tbs thyme
1/2 tbs onion powder

1. Bring broth and herbs to a low boil. Drop in zucchini and tomatoes. Cook about 15 minutes or until zucchini is tender.
2. Drop in tortellini. Reduce heat to medium. Cook an addition 5-8 minutes or until tortellini are cooked. Do not over cook!
3. Serve piping hot with crusty italian bread.

To make this a heartier dish, add 8 oz presoaked cannelini (small white) beans.