The other day, I was chatting on Facebook, and brainstorming about putting together an e-cookbook for entertaining. A friend, who has been reading the blog for the past year, suggested maybe I should start a food blog first.

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about recipes, hasn’t it?

Well, in my defense, blogging about food when you don’t have a kitchen is hard. Blogging about food when you’re not cooking because of an adorable bundle of chunk who is keeping you up night and day? Even harder. But, now that we do have a kitchen, and the baby is sleeping through the night, I am back at the stove, so I figured it’s time to start putting up the occasional recipe—especially recipes that make it easier for you to invite friends over for dinner and keep the natives from burning down your house while you prepare the meal.

So, here you go.

I served this yesterday to the husband’s co-workers, when they came over for the office Christmas party, which we hosted. I may or may not have included it in The Catholic Table book (can’t remember, too lazy to look), but it is one of my go-to “Having a Large Crowd Over, Want to Impress, But Don’t Have Time to Be Hanging Out in the Kitchen All Day” recipes. It is super seemingly fancy, super tasty (I cooked it for Scott Hahn 11 years ago, and he still talks about it), and most important, super easy.

I cannot stress the “easy” enough here. You can make this the night before or morning of, then pop it in the oven 30 minutes before you want to sit down at the table, leaving you completely free to focus on your guests..or children as the case may be. It also takes all of 20 minutes to prepare—basically, time for the water to boil, tortellini to soften, and for all the ingredients to get mixed together.

Which is a major bonus for busy working moms who spend the mornings of their husband’s office Christmas party fighting on Facebook. 

Ask me how I know?

Baked Tortellini with Pesto, Sun-Dried Tomato, and Cheese

Serves 8

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Bake Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

2 bags frozen tortellini

8 ounces basil pesto

6 ounces sun-dried tomatoes, drained and sliced

½ cup pine nuts

1 15 ounce can of black olives, sliced

8 ounces sliced Provolone

• In a medium-sized frying pan, lightly toast pine nuts over medium heat. When they begin to release their aroma and brown ever so slightly, remove from pan and set aside.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to boil; once the water is boiling, add tortellini and cook according to package instructions,
• While the water boils, slice the sun-dried tomatoes and slice olives (or by pre-sliced ones and have a glass of wine).
• Once the tortellini is cooked, drain and place tortellini in a large baking bowl.
• Stir in pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, and pine nuts. Combine well.
• Pour into a 9×12 baking dish (or similar). Top with sliced provolone. Then, either refrigerate until ready to cook or bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until the dish is heated through and the cheese has melted.

Serve With…

            Garlic Bread

            Green Salad