Sometimes Sundays call for a simple supper and sometimes it’s fun to spend the afternoon in the kitchen cooking on a Sunday. This particular Sunday called for a simple supper for me because I spent the afternoon at Barnes & Noble with Kylie for a book signing. Keegan Allen of Pretty Little Liars (one of Kylie’s all-time favorite shows) was at our local Barnes & Noble signing his new coffee table book called “Hollywood”. We happened to be at Barnes & Noble yesterday morning because I wanted to pick up a new release by an author that I love and was being offered at 50% off this weekend (plus my member discount …  just couldn’t pass it up). While I was there, I saw Keegan Allen’s book on display and asked the woman working at the store to tell me about the hype surrounding the book at their store yesterday. She told me that he was going to be at their Barnes & Noble location today at 2:00 for a book signing.

I knew Kylie would be thrilled with this news, so called her over to the display to tell her about my exciting news. If you wanted to be part of this book signing, you needed to come back to the store in the morning to purchase the book with a wristband. I knew Kylie would not be able to come to the store twice today because she was studying for the first part of one of her college finals to be held tomorrow. I told her I’d be happy to get up and head to the store early to get in line and purchase the book and wristband. I’m happy to report, Dennis and I got there early enough for me to be the sixth person in line. We walked in when they opened the doors at 9:00 and were back home by 9:30 … just in time to call and chat with my mom, make my grocery list and head to the grocery store and get back home in time to head back to Barnes & Noble to once again stand in line. The line was going to start forming at 1:00. Kylie was group A, which was fantastic (remember, this is thanks to me getting up early enough to stand in line the first time – pat on the back for me, mom of the day). All of us moms are mom’s of the day, I know, but I was really happy to be able to do this for Kylie.

By the time I got home this afternoon, I sat down to do some reading and ended up taking a little nap (a happy nappy, as I like to call it – I was beat). Anyway, that took me to 5:30 when I woke up and realized I best make dinner, so figured I’d go the quick and easy route.

I cooked cheese tortellini together with fresh spinach and made a sauce with ground turkey, shallots and garlic, together with a 28 ounce can of marinara sauce and some seasoning.

I minced three shallots and four cloves of garlic that I sauteéd in olive oil for just a couple minutes, starting with the shallots for about 2 minutes, adding the garlic and cooking for 45 seconds more before adding the ground turkey. I added a pinch of kosher salt to the shallots before sautéing them and adding the garlic. Once I added the turkey to the skillet, I added 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and a 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. I cooked the turkey until it was browned and crumbly.

Once the meat was cooked, I added my marinara sauce, along with 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, another teaspoon of kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes. I stirred everything together, added 1/4 cup of grated parmesan and stirred again, letting the sauce simmer on low for about 10 minutes.

Tortellini cooks very quickly, so cooked it while my sauce was simmering. I added two large handfuls of fresh spinach to the pot with the tortellini so they could cook together.

There was no need for a salad with our pasta tonight, the spinach was enough for us.

I drained the tortellini and spinach and placed it in a bowl. Once the tortellini and spinach were in the bowl, I topped it with a spoonful of the ground turkey in marinara sauce. I bought some new pasta bowls that I couldn’t pass up a couple weeks ago and couldn’t wait to use them. I ended up buying all 8 that the store had left. I thought they were so pretty and knew I’d find many uses for them, tonight being the first.

I told Dennis I think this may be my favorite pasta for the moment, I really enjoyed it! I hope you’ll want to try it and if you do, that you’ll enjoy it too.

Ingredients

1 package of cheese tortellini (I buy the refrigerated kind at Trader Joe’s or Sprout’s)

3 shallots, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound ground turkey

3 large handfuls of spinach

1 28-ounce can of marinara sauce

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided

1 teaspoons pepper, divided

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoons Italian seasoning

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in large skillet. Add shallots plus a pinch of kosher salt and sauté for 2 minutes. Add garlic, sauté 45 seconds.
2. Add ground turkey to skillet, along with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Cook on medium-high, until turkey has browned and is crumbly.
3. Add marinara sauce to meat, along with 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes. Stir.
4. Add grated parmesan to skillet, stir, reduce heat to low and continue to simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Cook tortellini and spinach.
6. Place cooked tortellini and spinach in a bowl and top with a large spoonful of the turkey marinara sauce.

Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris