Tortellini with Creamy Mushroom Sauce + Garlic Green Beans

Tortellini with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

The big thing in this meal, in terms of cooking skill, is the creamy mushroom sauce. One of my New Years resolutions this year was to get better at making sauces, and this was one of my attempts. This is kind of the only News Years Resolutions I have actually made progress on, others include making monthly budgets, working out 30 minutes a day, and not leaving dishes in the sink over night. But I still have 8 months to start making moves. Anyway, in terms of my goals of making food that is quick, cheap, and local (and good) this meal was definitely quick and fairly inexpensive, the green beans and milk were organic, and I used local/organic garlic from PD Farms. While cream sauce can be pretty (very) rich this one is lighter then most because it uses 2% milk instead of cream.

The inspiration for the mushroom sauce came from the Breitenbush Cookbook. Breitenbush is a hot spring resort in the Cascades and it is one of my favorite places in the world! They have a great vegetarian and vegan buffets and if you are camping near by you can just pay for lunch, or dinner or whatever. I've been happy with the recipes I've tried so far but I have noticed that they tend to make quantities sufficient for 10 or so people (even when they say 6 to 8). Good if you are running a retreat center, not as good when you are cooking for two. They recommend serving this sauce over herb biscuits, when making biscuits and gravy, which I tried and would also recommend.

The original recipe calls for 1 -1/2 cups of half and half plus 1/4 cup sour cream which I am sure would be delicious but is a little rich for me so I lightened it a bit. Here's my version:

Creamy Mushroom Sauce;
2 tbs butter
1/2 lb mushrooms (I always have trouble with weights since I don't have a scale, I used about two cups)
2 tbs flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1- 1/2 cup milk (any kind, but I usually use 2%)
1 tbs wine
1/4 cup yogurt (I almost always substitute yogurt for sour cream, but at least the nonfat has a tendency to separate and look a little watery - it still tastes good)
1 to 2 tbs herbs depending on taste - I like rosemary and thyme

Chop mushrooms, you can either slice them or chop them more finely depending on the texture you are going for. Heat butter in large skillet and saute mushrooms until tender. Mushrooms release a lot of water when cooked so wait until most of this liquid has cooked off unless you want a really watery sauce. Add flour and stir for 1 to 2 minutes or so (cooking flour and fat such as butter is called making a roux and is the basis of pretty much all sauces). Add milk, salt, pepper, wine and herbs and cook on low stirring regularly. Cook until the sauce has thickened. This is usually a minute or two after it starts boiling. Add yogurt and remove from heat. You can also add pretty much any type of cheese such as Parmesan or cheddar at this stage to make a variety of sauces.

Cook tortellini, or pasta of your choice according to package instructions. Add sauce. Mmmmm

Garlic Green Beans:

OK, this isn't really a recipe. Wash green beans. Heat garlic olive oil or regular olive oil. Add chopped garlic if using regular oil and saute for 30 seconds. Add green beans and saute until tender - about 5 minutes. Done!

Smacznego! (I think that's bon appetite in Polish, but I just googled it and don't speak Polish so I could be wrong)

Spinach Roulade

Spinach Roulade

I know, you might be thinking why another food blog? I don't really have an answer other then that I think mine is a little different than others I've seen.  I have read a lot of "foodie" blogs and also blogs about affordable, healthy eating. But not nearly as many that try to do both (though I am sure they are out there) Anyway, on with the recipe! For my first blog post I am writing about Spinach Roulade.  I got the recipe for Spinach Roulade from The Vegetarian Epicure Book Two by Anna Thomas. For those of you familiar with Anna Thomas most of her recipes are not what I would consider quick, they are however delicious.  I made this on a Saturday when I knew I would have plenty of time. I think the whole thing took about two hours, but only about one hour of active time and I was stopping to take pictures periodically. In terms of accomplishing my other goals, I would consider this healthy (lots of whole ingredients and vegetables maybe a little higher in fat) and the ingredients are pretty affordable. The potatoes, garlic, and onions were organic and local from PD Farms and Val's Veggies (all great people).

This is the description from the cookbook: This is like a giant rolled dumpling, with a spinach filling. A potato dough reminiscent of gnocchi is rolled up around the filling, then the whole thing is wrapped n cheesecloth boiled in salted water, and served hot, in spiral patterned slices.

Serves 6

Vegetarian Epicure Page 254

Ingredients:


Filling:

2 lbs. fresh spinach
3 tbs. butter
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 tbs white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp oregano
pinch nutmeg



Dough
2 lbs potatoes
2 whole eggs
1 1/2 tsp salt
dash nutmeg
2 - 2 1/2 cups flour


Garnish with melted butter and grated Parmesan cheese.

Translucent Onions

For filling saute onions and garlic until translucent, add spinach and continue sauteing until wilted, add seasonings

Filling (sorry, a little blurry, but I was trying to cook)

Pasta Dough

 For dough cut potatoes into small cubes and boil until tender (about 20 minutes) mash slightly, add other ingredients except flour and mash completely. It should look like mashed potatoes.

Form mushy dough into ball and transfer to a work surface such as a counter and begin working in flour until you have a stiff dough. Roll dough into rectangle approximately 11 x 13 inches. Spread filling over rectangle and carefully begin rolling dough starting on the long edge (like a jelly roll).

Dough with Spinach Filling

Wrap jelly roll in cheese cloth and place in a pot full of salted water and boil for about 50 minutes. Remove from pot (I actually found this to be the hardest part, possibly because my pot wasn't big enough or there wasn't enough water I don't know, if you have any ideas let me know) Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes and then slice. I did not let mine stand. I was really hungry so I sliced it right away which I think contributed to it losing its shape and not forming nice spirals like it was supposed to. When I ate it for lunch the next day it was much easier to cut and you could actually see the spirals. Anna Thomas suggests serving it with melted butter, I just topped it with Parmesan. I think marinara could also be tasty and adds vegetables.  As you can see I served it with a salad.  Even though it doesn't look that pretty it was really tasty.


Note: these are my abridged versions of the directions. The ones found in Vegetarian Epicure are more detailed and include some extra steps, which I skipped.

Final Plate

OK, thanks for reading, let me know what you think! Oh, and because if I say it "out loud" I am more likely to do it, I plan to post once per week.

Bon Appetit!