Tortellini Carbonara

I’ve been craving pasta for weeks and just had to give in. Technically, this isn’t a true carbonara as there are no eggs or pancetta, but the flavor profile is there so I’m going with it. I used dried tortellini, but fresh would certainly work.

Let’s start the recipe by cooking a few slices of bacon. I like to leave them a little chewy, but cook them the way you like.

Remove the bacon from the pan and crumble the bacon - set aside for now.

Lower the heat and add a clove of minced garlic - stir for 30-60 seconds.

Add the crumbled bacon, parmesan cheese, heavy cream, red wine vinegar, and freshly ground pepper. Stir to combine and bring to a bubble.

Add the precooked tortellini and toss well to coat.

Serve with fresh basil and enjoy!

Tortellini Carbonara

makes 2 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound dried tortellini, cooked, drained, and cooled

• 3-4 slices bacon

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

• 1/3 cup heavy cream

• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• Garnish: freshly chopped basil

Directions

1. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, then remove from skillet (reserve the drippings), crumble the bacon, and set aside until needed.

2. Lower the heat and sauté the minced garlic in reserved bacon drippings for 30-60 seconds; immediately add the crumbled bacon, parmesan cheese, heavy cream, red wine vinegar, and freshly ground black pepper, stirring until the mixture begins to bubble.

3. Stir in the cooked tortellini to reheat and gently toss to coat with the sauce.

4. Serve immediately with fresh basil.

Instant Pot Black Beans

Remember the days when you had to plan way ahead if you wanted to cook dried black beans? You’d have to soak the beans in a huge pot of water over night, find room in the fridge for the pot, drain the beans the next day, refill the pot with more water, and finally, bring the pot of beans to a boil, then lower it to a simmer for about an hour. You could add some seasonings like garlic and bay leaves while the beans simmered away, but NOT salt because that could actually cause the beans to take much longer to become tender.

Well, I’m here to tell you there’s a much easier, much faster way to cook dried beans using an instant pot. It’s easier because you literally toss everything into the instant pot (including salt), and it’s faster because the whole process takes less than an hour from start to finish. And honestly, I think the beans cooked in the instant pot end up having a better texture and flavor. I will never go back to making them the old way.

Instant Pot Black Beans

makes about 5 cups of cooked beans

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried black beans, picked over and rinsed

• 8 cups water (or low-sodium chicken stock)

• 1 tablespoon oil (to keep the cooking liquid from bubbling too much)

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled

• 1 bay leaf

• (optional) 4-inch sprig of fresh rosemary (see note below)

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in the inner pot of a 6 or 8-quart pressure cooker, lock the lid in the closed position and and make sure the vent is set to “sealing” (not “venting”).

2. Cook on “manual” or “pressure cook” for 20 minutes (disable the “keep warm” function), then allow the pressure to release naturally for at least 30 minutes.

3. Discard bay leaf and store beans in their liquid for up to a week in the fridge, or freeze for longer storage.

Note

• I only add the sprig of rosemary when cooking beans that will be used in Italian dishes.