Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce

Here's a pantry raid meal for you that tastes much more sophisticated than a typical semi-homemade dinner. I got it from www.ourbestbites.com a favorite recipe/craft site.

12 oz bag tortellini, prepared according to package (i didn't have dry tortellini on hand so i used
some frozen ravioli that i had)
4 oz bacon chopped up and cooked (i used leftover easter ham that i had, and just added a bit of oil for the next step since i didn't have the rendered grease)
3 cloves garlic, pressed
(2 Tbsp oil/butter/bacon fat)
2 Tbsp flour
2 C milk
salt
pepper
1 1/2 t dried basil (i used a cube of frozen chopped basil from trader joes)
red pepper flakes
1 lemon, zest & juice
2 C loosely packed fresh spinach, roughly chopped
3/4 C grated mozzarrella cheese, divided (i used 1 cup cheese total)
3/4 C grated parmesan cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350.

Brown bacon to a crisp in a skillet. remove bacon and drain. Reserve 2 Tbsp bacon drippings in pan and discard the rest (or add 2T fat to pan at this point). Add garlic to pan and cook until fragrant. Add flour and stir with a whisk for about 1 minute. Slowly add milk and continue to stir with a whisk until smooth. Add salt, pepper, basil, and red pepper flakes and bring sauce to sa simmer

While sauce is heating, use a grater to zest lemon. Then cut lemon in half and remove juice. Add 2 t zest and 1 T juice to sauce. Continue to stir until thickened, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Drain tortellini and place back in pot. Add bacon to pasta. Add spinach, 1/2 cup of each cheese. Add sauce and stir to combine. Place pasta mixture in baking dish and top with remaining cheese.

Cover pan with foil and bake 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for additional 5-10 minutes until cheese is melty.

Enjoy!

Calzone

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Makes: 4 calzones

1 pizza dough
flour (for dusting)
olive oil
1 pound mushrooms (cleaned and sliced)
4 cloves garlic (peeled and finely sliced)
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 cup butter
sea salt and ground black pepper
1 cup tomato sauce
11 ounces spinach leaves
8 ounces mozzarella cheese

*You can use a store-bought pizza dough or make your own. I added chicken when I made these.

1. Preheat oven to 450 to 500 degrees F.
2. Make 4 balls of dough from the uncooked pizza dough. Roll each ball out on a floured surface, making them roughly circular, about the thickness of a silver dollar, and about 12 inches across.
3. Pour a large glug of olive oil into a hot frying pan.
4. Add the mushrooms, garlic, and thyme. Fry until mushrooms are cooked.
5. Drop in the butter. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Add the tomato sauce to the pan and stir. Cook for a few minutes, then add the spinach in batches and stir again.
7. Simmer away the liquid until you're left with a thick mixture that's not too moist (otherwise it will burst through the dough when you're cooking the calzone).
8. Divide the mushroom and spinach mixture evenly between the 4 pizza bases and spread it out nicely.
9. Top with mozzarella, salt and pepper.
10. To make your calzone, carefully lift the far edge of the pizza dough and pull it over the top towards you--you basically fold it in half. Pinch the edges so none of the filling can spill out.
11. Place the calzones side by side on a floured baking sheet or pizza stone.
12. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes on the bottom of the preheated oven until the dough is puffed up and golden on top and the filling is hot.

Enjoy!