mustard and miscellany

New recipe today! This is one my mom made when I was growing up and I love it. It’s simple and delicious with a hint of mustard flavor. For the sake of this blog, I convinced my mom to make this when I had dinner at my parents’ house recently. I even made Schu eat it, and he claimed he didn’t hate it. I suspect this may have been influenced by not wanting to insult my mom’s cooking, but honestly, I don’t think the mustard flavor is super strong in this dish.

I’m sorry not to give credit but this recipe has been around so long that my mom doesn’t remember where she got it. I Googled the name she had written on the recipe card and it showed up on quite a few different sites with no credits given, so I guess it’s pretty common. This fed four of us with enough leftovers for 1-2 more meals. She also uses a little more mustard than the recipe calls for – she estimated she used about 3 Tbsp. I guess I inherited my love of mustard – I knew my dad loved mustard but didn’t know my mom appears to as well. I honestly don’t know if my brother likes mustard or not but he’s been reading this blog so, hey bro, feel free to leave a comment expressing your opinions about mustard.

I think kids would like this recipe. I also think it would be good as a vegetarian dish by omitting the sausage and adding more veggies, maybe green peas? One note: It says to cook the tortellini for 15 minutes, which leaves them very soft and almost mushy. I like it this way because it’s the way I grew up eating it, but I suspect a lot of you would prefer your pasta more al dente…so, adjust cooking time accordingly – maybe more like 5 minutes before adding the other ingredients.  So, here goes – get ready to make this deliciousness!

Printable recipe

Sausage & Tortellini Toss (Feeds 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 7 oz. cheese-filled tortellini (We use the kind from the refrigerated section of the grocery store)
• 4 cups fresh broccoli, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 lb. polish sausage or kielbasa, halved lengthwise and bias cut
• 2 Tbsp. margarine or butter
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 1.5 cups milk
• 2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
• 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard (unless you’re my mom, then use 3 Tbsp.)

Directions:

• In a large saucepan, cook tortellini uncovered in boiling water 15 minutes. Add broccoli and sausage. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered 5-10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt margarine or butter in a medium saucepan. Stir in flour. Add milk. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in cheese and mustard and cook, stirring occasionally until cheese melts.
• Drain tortellini mixture. Return to hot pan. Add cheese mixture, toss until coated.

Thanks as always for stopping by! Let me know if you make this and how you like it.

Cheers,

Stephanie