Easy Peasy Tortellini

Fresh pasta is really the only kind of pasta there is. I take the dried stuff only because I can't take the time to make it fresh but here's a little trick that will get you past that.

Instead of making the dough yourself and rolling it painstakingly into the little sheets just buy refrigerated wonton wrappers. Use those as last minute tortellini and you can get the fun of fresh without the hassle.

Now they don't taste exactly like regular tortellini because the wonton wrappers are thinner but as long as you don't over cook them they will work just fine.

Mix up the filling and drop a teaspoon of it in the center of each wonton wrapper then fold the wrapper over in half diagonally to form a triangle. Seal it by dipping your finger in water and running it along the edge then pressing firmly to seal the edges. Bring the two points around and pinch them together so the pasta forms a little pointy mitre shape--kind of like the pope's hat (sorry, that's the only shape I could think of).

My favorite easy filling is some ricotta with a dash of salt, freshly ground pepper, sugar and nutmeg and some freshly chopped basil. Very simple but perfect as an accompaniment to a fresh tomato marinara sauce. You can adapt it for any stuffed pasta recipe just make sure that you don't use filling with raw meat that would require a bit of boiling to safely cook because the pasta will get soggy if you cook it long enough to properly heat chicken or beef in the center. Fish is fine, that cooks quickly enough but cheese is probably the best.

Give it a try--it'll make you feel like you're going all out to make your own pasta.

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