Easy Cheesy Baked Tortellini with Italian Sausage

This easy-baked tortellini is made with spicy Italian sausage, and spinach and is topped with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, and baked to perfection in 30 minutes. It’s a family favorite comfort meal that’s perfect for busy weeknights.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
20-ounce tortellini pasta (fresh, frozen, or dried), I used dried
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-pound Italian sausage (I used spicy Italian sausage, remove meat from the casing before cooking)
1 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/8 teaspoon salt, adjust to taste
1/4 teaspoon pepper, adjust to taste
1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
3 cups spinach, tightly packed
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup Mozzarella cheese, fresh grated
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, fresh grated
Parsley (for garnish)
Instructions
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Generously season with salt. Cook tortellini as per package instructions, cook it al-dente. Drain and set aside.
Remove the meat from the casing and pan-fry them in hot olive oil in a skillet. Cook for 3-5 minutes. Break the sausage with the back of a spatula as you stir and cook.
Add diced onion and sauté until tender. Add minced garlic and cook for a minute.
Add in tomato paste and crushed canned tomatoes. Stir well, simmer, and cook until tomatoes are cooked.
Season with salt and pepper as needed, pour heavy cream and chopped spinach.
Stir and cook for a minute on low heat.
If the sauce is too thick, add a little pasta water to adjust the consistency.
Remove from heat.
Add cooked pasta to the sauce along with 1/2 the amount of mozzarella cheese.
Note: I added pasta to the casserole dish, topped with sauce and cheese, and tried to stir to combine, thought it was hard to mix. Recommend you combine sauce and pasta in the skillet and then transfer to the casserole.
Transfer to a 9x13 casserole dish.
I reduced the recipe to half and used a smaller casserole dish (as seen in the video).
Top the casserole with the remaining mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 30-35 minutes. Remove the foil, and broil for a few minutes to lightly brown the cheese.
Garnish with parsley and red chili flakes. Serve immediately.
For more details and other useful information click on the recipe link - www.currytrail.in/easy-baked-...

[@TomReichner]

That does look like a very easy meal to make. And I think it offers a lot of flexibility as to what ingredients one adds to the tortellini. What would you think of topping it with large Portabella slices? Would just need to cover in foil as it bakes, to keep the Portabella slices from drying out. Or at least keep it covered for the first 24 minutes, then remove the foil for the final 6 minutes, to give the cheese on top a nicer color.