Tortellini With Lemon & Herbs

Tortellini with fresh herbs, originally uploaded by shannon_turlington.
Last week I posted a wintry pasta dish, so this week I am countering with a pasta that is all about summer. This sauce is light and tangy, perfect for a hot summer night, especially if you can use herbs right out of your own garden. It pairs [...]

Rotini with Swiss Chard & Sausage Ragu (Sara Foster’s Casual Cooking)

Rotini with Swiss Chard and Sausage, originally uploaded by shannon_turlington.
Please forgive me for posting this rich, hearty, warming pasta recipe in the middle of summer. Yes, this is truly a wintry dish, but it was so good that I couldn’t wait to share it with you.
This is the first recipe that I have tried from [...]

Classic Macaroni and Cheese

IMG_8846.JPG, originally uploaded by tantek. Full disclosure: This photo is not of my mac and cheese. But it’s a better photo than the one I took.
One thing I hate is other people telling me what or what not to eat. The American culture seems obsessed with what you should or shouldn’t eat to be the [...]

Riffing the Recipe: Orzo Pilaf with Spinach

A tremendous feeling of freedom came with the simple realization that I did not have to follow a recipe to the letter. I suppose I had done enough cooking to feel confident enough in my knowledge of the fundamentals to expand outside the boundaries that seemed imposed by the recipe. I suddenly felt comfortable with [...]

Variations on a Theme: Chicken Salad

One thing I’ve noticed, as I have cooked more and more, is that very few recipes are truly original. Most are just variations on a simple theme. Once I have learned the core recipe or technique, it then becomes a simple matter to vary the recipe to suit my tastes, the ingredients I have on [...]

My Husband Cooks Too: Cheesy Pasta Bake

My husband does cook, although not nearly as often as I do. He is a very different cook than I am. He maintains a small repertoire of dishes that he makes over and over again, improving each time, and I have hardly ever seen him consult a recipe. Rather, he cooks solely by memory and [...]

Garden Destruction and Pesto Making

It hurt, but we tore out the garden this weekend. It has been a strange growing season. Up until Tuesday of this week, we were still experiencing temperatures in the 90s and humidity that felt more like July. Despite being in “exceptional” drought for the last two months, the tomatoes must have thought we were [...]

One-Hour Marinara Sauce

Was it possible? Had I actually found a way to make a thick and hearty marinara sauce, reminiscent of the sauce in my favorite Italian restaurant, in just one hour? Now, I’m not going to claim that this sauce will ever surpass my husband’s slow-simmered, Sunday afternoon marinara. But it was so hearty, thick and [...]

How to Make Lasagna

When I’m hosting a dinner — particularly a family dinner — or I have to bring something to a potluck, lasagna is one of my go-to recipes. Everyone loves lasagna, vegetarian versions are still satisfying to meat-eaters, and whenever you make it, you have to make a ton.
But I never make lasagna when it’s just [...]

Tortellini Soup (The Best 30-Minute Recipe)

This is a very simple and basic soup, but also one that is really satisfying. Simmering the stock separately with some herbs enriches the flavor of store-bought chicken stock.

Tortellini Soup
Serves: 2
Time to make: ~15 minutes
What you need:

4 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp. Italian herb mix
½ onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
6 oz. cheese tortellini
2 cups [...]