2 Baked Tortelloni with Asparagus & Ham

I got my camera charger back today!  I left it in Maryland a few weeks ago, and my sister was kind enough to mail it to me.  Since then I've been eking out every drop of battery life I could.  It finally quit the other day, just in time for me to miss (for the second time!) snapping pix of boeuf bourguignon a la Julia Child and Dijon-braised fingerling potatoes (though I'll make this again in a day or two since I have a lot of potatoes left.)



Today however, I decided to make E something a little different, and very cheesy.  


Ingredients:
Tortelloni (any kind, I used spinach & ricotta) cooked al dente
2 tbls cream cheese
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup grated hard, melty cheese (I used a Mexican blend)
few slices of chopped ham
2-3 asparagus stalks, cut into equal bite-sized pieces


Now a note before I begin - I don't usually use recipes unless I'm baking, so I just wing it and add as I see fit.  I didn't add any herbs or spices to this because I wanted to keep it simple, BUT, if I were making this for dinner, I'd add Italian herbs, garlic and probably roasted red peppers or maybe some sun dried tomatoes.  *drool*.  Maybe some red pepper flakes.  Okay, let's not get carried away!  If you want to make this for a crowd, at least double the following recipe!  I only made a small portion today.


Preheat oven to 350, and cook your tortelloni to al dente (if it says cook for 10-11 minutes, cook for 7.)

In a small sauce pot over low heat add the cream cheese and milk, melt down and stir well.

Next, add the parmesan cheese, and whisk in until melted.

Then the other shredded cheese of your choice

At this point I might add a dash or two of nutmeg to give it a more alfredo-y taste.....  So, remove the sauce from the heat.  It should be fairly thick, like this, but if it's too thick, whisk in some more milk.

In a small fry pan over medium heat with a tiny bit of olive oil or butter, throw in the chopped ham and asparagus (and other veg that you want to use.)  Add pepper to taste.  Cook until the ham is a bit browned and the veg gets a little color on them.

Then add the ham mixture to your sauce and fold in gently.

Take your cooked tortelloni and very gently fold that in through the sauce.

At this point you can dump the entire mixture into a small casserole, or break out the ramekins for individual kid-sized portions.

Pop these bad boys into your 350 oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, until they are nice and bubbly, and slightly browning on top.  Top with some parsley, and enjoy!

My sister-in-law came over and ate one (or two) of these, and declared it's the first meal she's been able to eat since she had her first bout of morning-sickness several weeks ago.  And now she's napping on my couch,  hehe!