Let's spend a moment recapping.
Learn how to make fresh pasta. Check.
Learn how to use our pasta rollers. Check.
Learn how to make tortellini filling. Check.
Learn how to form tortellini. Check.
How to eat tortellini. Shit.
I completely forgot to teach you how to eat tortellini. I can't apologize enough to everyone out there sitting at the kitchen table with wide eyes and a bowl of frozen tortellini in front of you. Big, bulbous tears slowly splashing around you.
The thing about tortellini is it's a LOT of work to make. So, you tend to become kind of nuts about it. I served some tortellini I made a few months ago and I generously doled out about 5 tortellini for me and 7 for the fella. 'Cause he's bigger. Then I got so angry that he ate all 7 tortellini I smashed a bowl to pieces. And it was Tupperware so it was really, really hard to do. If there were some sort of International Tupperware breaking event I would be team captain. And we would wear tortellini shaped hats.
To have a nice big bowl of tortellini with all kinds in the pot for seconds would be nice, but I'm a titch too protective of my homemade tortellini for that. And I imagine you will be too.
So I introduce you to the absolute best way to make use of your homemade tortellini. Introducing ...
The best thing about this recipe is all the hard work (making the tortellini) is done. This is a meal you can now literally make in 5 minutes. There are 4 ingredients. Your homemade tortellini, beef broth, chicken broth, parmesan cheese.
[print_this]Tortellini en Brodo
Serves 4
Ingredients
Tortellini (approximately 20 pieces per person)
4 cups of homemade Beef Broth
4 cups of homemade Chicken Broth
1 thumb sized piece of parmesan cheese rind
Bring broths to a boil, add tortellini and parmesan cheese rind. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until tortellini is tender. Remove rind before serving.
Serve with Kale salad and a big, crusty round of bread.
[/print_this]
By using the tortellini this way, you get away with using less than half the amount you would if you were to serve it in a bowl with a tomato sauce on it.
And yes. You can make this with frozen tortellini from the grocery store and packaged broths. So breathe a sigh of relief. BUT ... it won't taste the same.
This is easily one of the most delicious soups I've ever made. And yes, it's also the most amount of work. But if you spend a weekend making the broth and tortellini in advance (which is actually kind of fun) you can have what will be the best meal you've had all week ready in the amount of time it takes to make a peanut butter and jam sandwich.
So dry those eyes, roll up your sleeves and head straight to the grocery store. Who's kidding who? 3 of you are going to make the delicious soup from scratch and the rest of you are going to make the grocery store version.
To those 3, I welcome you to team Tupperware.
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Mario Batali has a recipe for this that uses a brown chicken broth which is also
delicious.http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mario-batali/cappelletti-al-formaggi-cheese-filled-little-hats-recipe.html
sorry I am a purist. It is Spelled Tortellini IN Brodo, and it is supposed to be capon broth and it should be clear. The broth in the picture looks like gravy sauce....
Emillia - Actually it's spelled both ways. In Brodo, and En Brodo. As far as being a purist is concerned, whether it's a capon broth or a combination broth is a matter of taste. I think you'll find most recipes call for roasted beef bones in the stock. Yes, my broth is dark but certainly not a gravy sauce. It's clear with good depth of flavour while still tasting light enough to allow the tortellini to shine. ~ karen
Aw, shit.
I had to re-read this post 3 times to find the curse word.
It was like a naughty scavenger hunt.
Hmm. I've noticed that tattoos and potty mouths become less attractive as one ages. You may not feel the need in a few years. Tortellini, of course, are ageless.
Morag - I disagree. I wouldn't say using the word shit is necessarily being a potty mouth for one thing. I think it's being human. Sure I could pretend to be a pristine, phony, oh golly blogger, like so many others, but that's not who I am. And you can bet your sweet ass it isn't who they are either. ~ karen
yummy! reminds me of christmas when all the ladies in the family work for hours to make tortellini o cappelleti for the Christmas feast! btw is in brodo, in is in italian, en is spanish! Love your blog, swear words and all, keep up the good work, greetings from Sicily
Thanks Vere!~ karen
Looks delicious!! Can't wait to try this soon! and love your photographs!!:)
Just one question.
Do you eat this with crusty Italian or French bread and real butter.
I am drooling at the thought.
Yummy.
This particular evening it was a crusty sourdough with yes, real butter. Drool worthy to say the least. ~ karen!
Oh yeah..That soup looks like something I could dive into..better get a bigger bowl..
Tortellini-shaped hats.....like the pope! Once he gets his on Tuesday that is. :)
I'm still searching for my pasta machine. It's here somewhere. I'll eventually find it. Unless it's up in the attic. Your soup does looks delicious Karen. But, I have to ask. Where do you get the energy to do all this fabulous cooking from scratch? I must be doing something wrong.
Jeannie B - I love cooking. I love eating. Plus ... I don't have kids. :) ~ karen
Decadent!
Team Tupperware for the win! Although it might be a while until I can actually make this as I still need to buy the pasta roller attachment for my mixer. It will happen though.
I'll definitely be trying his one.
We're empty-nesters now, so i'll have time to enjoy the process!
thanks a heap!
You were generous in serving that bowl of soup for the picture. There are twenty-ONE tortellini in the bowl! I can imagine you sitting right down and slurping up that soup the very second after you snapped the picture...and being very smug about serving yourself that extra tortellini. You'd be saying to yourself, "After all, I MADE 'EM!"
I love this series of posts. Makes me kick myself even harder for having stupid celiac disease. No bread or pasta for me. Sigh.
I wonder how many people scrolled back up to count them. I did. LOL.
I love everything about you except your potty mouth. No more curse words please.
I'm afraid that's not going to happen. If I wanted to be censored I'd still be working in television making $125,000 a year. I've chosen to write this blog because it allowed me to be uncensored and make about $12 a year. Sorry. Strange but true. ~ karen
The way you write and express yourself is refreshing. Real ... like alot of us. Keep on doing it. And, that soup looks damn good. Kudos.
I agree with Di. Your writing is so real it feels like I know you. I realize that sounds super creepy, so my apologies. What I mean to say is, please don't censor yourself!
How rude! Don't you ever change Karen..We love you just the way you are! People who don't like it should find somewhere else to play cause the rest of us are having fun here!
Ah, now I'm going to have to make broth too! Good thing I bought some bones the other day. he he he...
Wow - what great ideas, good instructions, and inspiring blog posts. Now, check this out -- if you look at the picture of the tortellini under the post entitled, "How to Make ...," they look like they are smiling at the camera and marching in a sort of lopsided formation - and, of course, a little lopsided is okay where they are concerned because they are homemade and just ripe with fresh ingredients, and soooooo very happy to please their adoring audience. (Sorry, it's late here and I have little to look forward to for the rest of the night before trudging off to bed to dream of little pudgy tortellini pasta babies marching across my kitchen floor and up the side of my bed and across my pillow before plopping themseles into my open, snoring, pie hole! Perchance to dream (of Tortellini?) Nite and sweet dreams to all.
Oh my god. I keep looking at it. I'm so hungry now!
This almost makes sense now. Except I had to wring the ravioli instructions out of you.
So rank them, please? Szechuan Carrot Soup, Sausage and Vegetable Fire Both, Tortellini En Brodo, any other soups you've made on here that I haven't listed. Order of tastiness, please?
Hard to rank flavo(u)r. So I'll rank as faves. Tortellini En Brodo. Fire Broth Soup. Szechuan Carrot Soup. Curried Cauliflower Soup (haven't done post myself but I think I linked to it on the True Foods website.) Fire Broth soup probably has more "flavour", but the Tortellini en Brodo is a superior soup. And it takes ridiculously good. And no. You cannot make it with ravioli. ~ karen!