Baked tortellini with Italian sausage meatballs recipe
A delicious dish of Italian sausage meatballs baked with tortellini and smothered in tomato sauce with cheese.
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Ingredients
Tomato sauce:
- 2 400 gram tins of Italian whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 large white onion halved
- 40-60 grams salted butter – depending on how many calories you are willing to sacrifice
- a good few pinches of good quality sea salt flakes such as Maldon
- Black pepper
Meatball pasta part
- 250 grams tortellini either cheese or spinach
- 400 -45 grams of Italian sausages removed from casings and rolled into small meatballs.
- 3 - 4 cups baby spinach leaves
- pinch of chilli flakes optional
- 1 x ball of mozzarella
- Parmesan to grate
Instructions
- Get the sauce on the go and allow that to cook for about 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 350 F
- Make your meatballs and fry these in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat until golden on all sides. They don't have to be cooked through. Remove from pan and drain if you want to take off any fat.
- Get your water to the boil and cook the tortellini according to the packet instructions.
- Once the tomato sauce has been cooking for about 40 minutes, add the meatballs, chilli flakes to the sauce and allow to bubble for about 5 minutes. Check the seasoning and add salt and pepper as necessary. Fold through the spinach until it is all wilted. Add the pasta and stir gently to combine.
- Decant into a buttered ovenproof dish and grate over Parmesan cheese (as much as you would like). Tear or slice the mozzarella into pieces to cover the surface. Bake for 20 minutes until starting to go golden and the cheese is bubbling. Serve with more Parmesan on the side.
Notes
Store any leftover pasta in the fridge and reheat in the microwave.