Brown Butter Tortellini with Spinach & Ham

Brown Butter Tortellini with Spinach & Ham

We finally picked a cookbook to cook each recipe from and made our first recipe! It turned out very good, even though it was a butter sauce the amount of butter wasn't overwhelming in comparison to the other ingredients. Kevin said he could have used a little more! It was super quick to make as well, perfect for an evening when you don't have a lot of time.

Ingredients: 

1 pkg (20 oz) refrigerated cheese-filled tortellini
1 pkg (6 oz) fresh baby spinach leaves (about 8 cups)
1 8 oz  piece cooked ham steak
1 large red bell pepper (we prefer green but Kevin ate half the green one)
1/4 cup butter (do not substitute margarine)
Coarsely ground black pepper (optional


Directions:
1. To cook tortellini, bring salted water to a boil in (4-qt.) Casserole; add tortellini and cook according to package directions.

2. As tortellini cook, place spinach into large Stainless Mesh Colander. Dice ham with Santoku Knife. Finely dice bell pepper. Drain tortellini over spinach in Colander.

3. Add butter to (12-in.) Skillet; heat over medium heat 5-7 minutes or until butter is a deep brown color, occasionally swirling Skillet. Immediately add bell pepper.

4. Reduce heat to low; add ham, tortellini and spinach. Gently toss to coat with Bamboo Spatulas.

5. To serve, spoon tortellini mixture onto serving plates. Sprinkle with black pepper, if desired.