Mushroom Tortellini?

[trippinprincezz13]

So, my boyfriend recently acquired a bag of frozen mushroom tortellini from his work (his boss gave it to him for free, so why the hell not). Never had it before, but it seems like it could go better with a white/cream sauce rather than regular marinara (though I'm sure it probably wouldn't be bad).  I really don't know a lot about white sauces except I've occassionally had ones that were really good.

Suggestions?

[LMNO]

Just make a bechamel, to start.  Basically, it's a light roux with milk.  Simmer 2c milk with onion, 2 cloves, and 2 bay leaves.  Over low heat, cook 3 tb of flour with 3 tb butter for about 2 minutes.  Strain milk, add to roux.

Now, you can add cream & lemon juice, or whatever other flavors you desire.

[trippinprincezz13]

Thanks!

Sounds simple enough to that I can work with/from it without screwing it up.  Not positive if I have cloves at home but that can be easily picked up at the store.  Can't imagine that a little garlic (not to overpower, just to add some flavor) would hurt either?

Looking forward to making - something different and all.

[LMNO]

Don't really need the cloves.  The secret is to use equal parts of fat and flour. the rest, as usual, is "to taste".


So taste it as you go.  salt and pepper would be nice, too.

[trippinprincezz13]

Cool, thanks.  Unless/until I get used to cooking something, I get nervous (for lack of a better word) throwing together whatever from scratch, but this is a good basis to work from.

I can use a recipe for a base and personalize it from there, but I need to get used to working different flavors together.  Probably not so much that I can't do it but rather I'm less than confident in my abilities sometimes. My boyfriend can take whatever the fuck's lying around the kitchen and throw it together into something delicious. Together we can put together pretty awesome meals, but typically I do most of the cooking, so I just need to work on being less dependent on recipes (not that they're bad all the time) and learn what works together.

Thanks again. Will post results soon when I get around to making it.

[LMNO]

Bechamel is one of the "mother sauces" in French cooking.  You can make dozens of sauces out of it, including:

Mornay sauce (cheese)
Nantua sauce (shrimp, butter and cream)
Crème sauce (heavy cream)
Mustard sauce (prepared mustard)
Soubise sauce (finely diced onions that have been sweated in butter)
Cheddar cheese sauce (cheddar cheese, dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce)

[Jenne]

White sauces, I've found, are just milk/cream pluse WHATEVEH.  I had to make one once for my dad because he has...bowel issues with red sauces, and he requested white at the last minute during a family spaghetti fest.  All I did was put butter and a bit of sour cream, garlic and tons of parmesan cheese in a pan, kept on whisking, and voila!  Le sauce a creme.

Monday, I made a fresh spinach pasta sauce, so I blanched the spinach and set to simmer a hugeass block of cream cheese, milk, olive oil and garlic. Added some oregano and basil, salt and pepper, and again, voila!  Cream sauce, which I poured over the spinach and added to the pasta.

Don't be afraid of the cream sauce...get zen about it.

[Jenne]

Ah shit, I forgot--I added white wine to the spinach cream sauce too.

[trippinprincezz13]

LMNO: Thanks for the added suggestions! Also will help get ideas going in my head.

Jenne: That spinach pasta sauce sounds great! I love spinach and finding new ways to cook/use it. (Need to make spinach/artichoke/cheese dip again).

Looking forward to making these. Hopefully they'll turn out good.

[Triple Zero]

Sounds simple enough to that I can work with/from it without screwing it up.  Not positive if I have cloves at home but that can be easily picked up at the store.  Can't imagine that a little garlic (not to overpower, just to add some flavor) would hurt either?

traditionally, Italians don't often combine onion and garlic in one sauce. They tend to use one or the other. Certain variations of carbonara seem to be the exception.

For this one, I'd add some cheese and black pepper to the roux. But do what you think seems best!

[trippinprincezz13]

Sounds simple enough to that I can work with/from it without screwing it up.  Not positive if I have cloves at home but that can be easily picked up at the store.  Can't imagine that a little garlic (not to overpower, just to add some flavor) would hurt either?

traditionally, Italians don't often combine onion and garlic in one sauce. They tend to use one or the other. Certain variations of carbonara seem to be the exception.

Ahh, I see. Not incredibly familiar with a lot of the intricasies of many cuisines. Garlic and onion are just some of my favorite ingredients. See what happens.

For this one, I'd add some cheese and black pepper to the roux. But do what you think seems best!

Had been contemplating a bit of cheese.  Not overly done, especially since we just finished polishing off my latest batch of broccoli and cheese soup. But some could be good with this.

Probably doing this tonight or tomorrow, so will make my mind up eventually.  But all these ideas are great for future information too

[Jenne]

Damn, I also forgot to say I added grated parm and asiago to the sauce.  My brain is cheese! 

[Suu]

CHEESE IS FUCKING DELICIOUS.

[Jenne]

MAH BRAINZ IS DEELISHUS...but you can't have em.  They're mine.

[trippinprincezz13]

Thankfully I restocked on cheese yesterday (had to go a few days without), with a shredded four-cheese blend, Cabot's Seriously Sharp, and Cabot's Pepper Jack, plus the grated parm and leftover brie at home.

Although the two Cabots are really good, the selection in the "special" deli case in the deli wasn't great yesterday. Was kinda hoping for habenero/jalepeno and maybe something else, but oh well.

Tortellini tonight.