Cookin' & Cussin'

Fall Blend Tortellini

I’ve been making this skillet tortellini for YEEEEARS. It hasn’t always been called “Fall Blend” – more like “Kitchen Sink” Tortellini but that doesn’t sound very appetizing, now does it? I thought not.

Its no secret that Chris is the ultimate Pumpkin Spice lover – coffee, fruit bars, cereal, beer, you name it. Since his birthday falls in October, I always try to up the ante each year when it comes to finding him Pumpkin goodies. A few years ago, I found this DELICIOUS pumpkin pork sausage – yea. It sounds weird as fuck, but it truly wasn’t. It was full of fennel, sage & garlic – truly balanced out the pumpkin spices & the sweetness of the pork. Di Luigi was the brand, and I could ONLY find it at Harris Teeter & I could ONLY find it in August. Sadly, I haven’t been able to find it since 2019 so we have had to chart off path & improvise.

Give a Warm Welcome to : Chorizo!

literally. a “warm” welcome because… Chorizo is spicy? You know what, forget it.

Chorizo is a delicious, spicy, pork Spanish sausage. Trust, it is not the same as the pumpkin sausage mentioned above, but I won’t take you down that path….that ain’t right. I can “doctor up” chorizo to try and have a similar effect as the pumpkin sausage by adding sage, garlic & some coriander – plus they are both pork sausage, so it seems close enough to me!

Chorizo is such a great sausage for this dish – its spiciness isn’t overpowering nor too hot to enjoy – it tends to have a smoky flavor that the coriander really plays well with. I had never really eaten Chorizo before because it always seemed unappetizing as hell to me. The only way I ever saw it before was bright-ass red, swimming in grease, slopped on a plate or falling out of a cheesy quesadilla at a Mexican restaurant. But at most grocery stores that have a full-service meat case, you should be able to find “in-house” sausages. It’s pretty damn cool that grocery stores can grind their own meat up – adding whatever kind of spices & flavoring, rather than it coming frozen or pre-packaged! I found the Chorizo I used in this dish from Harris Teeter.

What makes it “Fall” ?

The butternut squash can also be purchased cubed & ret-ta-go! It honestly makes life so much easier that way too – you’ll most likely keep all your fingers intact & most definitely save an hour of your life because you don’t have to roast, cool, peel & cut the butternut squash yourself. Do yourself a damn favor & just buy the packaged, pre-cut squash.

This pasta dish is also a “one-pot-wonder” – also sounds more damn appetizing than “kitchen sink” right?? It has cheesy pasta, roasted butternut squash cubes, spicy sausage & wilted kale – what the hell else could you POSSIBLY want for a fall-themed pasta dish?! – nothing. That’s what I thought.

The butternut squash roasting smells slightly sweet, fall-like, and just plain amazing. It really jazzes up this dish from being “some cheesy pasta” to decadent. My goal one day is to roast more butternut squash and add some heavy cream, then blend it all up to make my very own Butternut Squash Alfredo -- *lightbuuuuulb*

The white wine deglazes the pan & the parmesan cheese makes everything take a bit of a creamy turn – if you want something saucier, you can always add your favorite jarred Alfredo pasta sauce to this dish to make the process a little easier – I won’t tell on you!

The wilted kale lends a textural bite that this dish desperately needs – it doesn’t get soggy or slimy, but it really helps differentiate the soft butternut squash & the cheesy tortellini. This is such a cozy-feeling bowl of goodness that it almost feels fancy, without being pretentious. I never realized food could seem pretentious, but it can!

Put me on Food Network…Ya Girl Is Ready.

This recipe can easily be doubled to feed a crowd! That’s the best part about it – it’s got all the food groups in 1 pot to cover all the bases with flavors that everyone will know & love! Personally, I enjoy this dish the most because its tasty (DUH) and takes less than 30 minutes for it to all come together – WYA Rachael Ray?? Who remembers #30MinuteMeals ?? An American classic. I’m the new bitch – scooch over.

Yea, Yea, YEA. I know. You’re probably whining & thinking “well, what the hell, how can this dish take 30 minutes if the butternut squash roasts for 20?” – first of all, shut up. Secondly, its called multi-tasking. Sheesh. This is Entry 10 – have I taught you NOTHING?!

Do literally EVERYTHING else while the squash is in the oven – boil the water, cut the onion, rip the kale, brown the chorizo…..get it? Seriously, cause after that – its quick, quick! All ingredients one-after-the-other into the pot! Simple – you can do it!

Ingredients

· 10 oz refrigerated Rana cheese tortellini

· 12 oz butternut squash, cubed & roasted

· 1 LB chorizo sausage

· 1 bunch Kale, cleaned & ripped into smaller pieces

· ½ medium Vidalia onion, diced

· 4 TBS olive oil, divided

· 1 TSP rubbed sage

· 2 TSP garlic powder, divided

· 1 TSP coriander

· S+P

· ¼ cup dry white wine

· ½ cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

Fill a pot with water & bring to a boil.

Toss your cubed butternut squash with olive oil, S+P & garlic powder – lay out on a tin-foil lined sheet tray & throw that sucker in the oven FIRST!

***The butternut squash will take about 20 minutes to roast so you definitely want to get a head start on that before starting anything else!***

In a large skillet, heat 2 TBS of olive oil – sauté the diced Vidalia onion until soft, about 3 minutes.

Add in your chorizo & crumble to cook evenly – as the chorizo browns, add in your garlic powder, rubbed sage, coriander, S+P – give it a lil taste if you’d like! ((make sure its cooked before you taste it, shit))

Tasting is super important during cooking – especially if you are trying a new recipe or using a new ingredient – LIKE CHORIZO.

Adjust your pepper or spices to your liking – remember, Chorizo has a little kick to it!

To deglaze your pan & help start the sauce, pour in the wine & stir around to get all the brown-bits off the bottom of the pan.

Your butternut squash *should* be roasting away – give them a flip & a shake halfway thru the 20 minute timer.

Wash your kale thoroughly & tear it into smaller pieces, off the stalk – the stalk is bitter, hard, fibrous & will taste god-awful, so please, no stalk.

By the handful, wilt your kale by stirring it into the large pot with the chorizo, onions & wine. Repeat this process til theres no more kale, duh. It seems like a lot – but kale is like spinach, it disappears when heat hits it & you’re left with feelings of “fuck, did I even add enough?” – trust me, you did. This should take about 5-7 minutes for all your kale to be properly wilted & incorporated. Be sure to also S+P your kale as it wilts!

Your water *should* be boiling by now – cook your tortellini according to package directions.

Once your tortellini has cooked, take a pasta scoop & move your pasta directly from the boiling water into your large pan to join the party with that spicy-ass chorizo! ((the little amount of pasta water coming over with the tortellini will help everyone mix & mingle together nicely.))

Your butternut squash *should* be finished roasting by now. If not, what in the actual hell have you been doing?? jzzzzzz.

Before adding in your roasted butternut squash, sprinkle in your ½ cup of grated parmesan cheese – the residual liquid + cheese will coat everything and make it OH SO yummy.

Gently FOLD IN in your butternut squash – you don’t wanna SQUISH the SQUASH, you feel me? Cause then it will be some weird-ass potato-like-texture and that’s not what we are going for here.

((& yes that was 100% a Schitt’s Creek reference. I am full of them & readily available if you need any more))

You should be ready for plating now! The best thing about this dish (other than it’s got all the food groups AND its 1 pot?) is that everything comes together in stages & relatively quickly.

No waiting forever for 1 thing to cook over the other or having to time out everything perfectly – things just cook at their own pace and you add them in together, one-at-a-time!

Gimmie All The Fall

Fall Blend Tortellini can definitely be viewed as a winter or even summer staple as well! I’m sure it could even be made into a soup – if someone has the nerve to change my damn recipe – holler at me. I hope you enjoy making this & finding your own little tweaks to make it your own new, favorite, fall-time staple.

If you don’t, then same.