Spinach Tomato Tortellini

I got this recipe off of allrecipes.com, and it is really delicious and definitely a keeper! I love tortellini anyway, but this is a really yummy and elegant way to serve it. I think the only thing I would change is that I would puree the tomatoes and spinach in my food processor before I added them to the sauce. My boys didn't care for the chunks of tomato or spinach in it, otherwise, I would keep it just the way I made it. 8/8/11: To make this dish even easier on myself I have started taking all of the ingredients, except the tortellini, and putting them in my blender. I blend them all well together, dump them in a saucepan and heat them through. Then I just dump them over the tortellini once it's cooked.

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package cheese tortellini (I always use a lot more than this. I've used 39oz of tortellini and it had plenty of sauce, so I recommend a lot more tortellini than 16oz)





• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with garlic and onion (I couldn't find this the other day, so I just bought a can of plain diced tomatoes and added 1 tsp of minced garlic and 1 tsp dried minced onion to it... you could also use 1 tsp onion powder if you don't have dried minced)





• 1 cup chopped fresh spinach (I usually just throw in a good handful)





• 1/2 teaspoon salt





• 1/4 teaspoon pepper





• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil





• 1 teaspoon minced garlic





• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour





• 3/4 cup milk





• 3/4 cup heavy cream





• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the tortellini, and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.





2. While you get the tortellini going, combine the tomatoes (remember if you are using plain diced tomatoes, add 1 tsp dried minced onion or onion powder & 1 tsp garlic), spinach, salt, pepper, basil and garlic in a large saucepan over medium heat. (For my family with children, who don't like to look at or eat chunks of tomatoes or spinach, I combine all these ingredients in my food processor and chop until there are no more big pieces and then add to saucepan.) Cook and stir until the mixture begins to bubble.





3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, milk and cream. Stir this mixture into the saucepan along with the Parmesan cheese. Heat through, then reduce heat to low, and simmer until thick, about 2 minutes.





4. Drain the tortellini, but do not rinse, then pour them into the saucepan with the sauce. Stir to coat, and serve. (I let mine sit for about 10 minutes to allow some of the sauce to reduce and soak into the tortellini.)

WW points: with a 19oz package of tortellini, this makes about 6 cups, 6 points each