Someone's in the Kitchen with Alex: Tortellini with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

I found this one hiding in the cute little recipe box I'd picked up at Sur La Table many years ago. Something I'd written down at least seven years ago, but never made.

A pasta salad, using cheese tortellini, basil, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, mayonnaise and topped with grated Parmesan.

We made it a few weeks ago, but decided the mayo made it too gloppy. Alex had helped us with the prep, though; he's a whiz on the food processor. And in a beautiful moment of culinary courage, he decided he'd take a taste of the tomato mixture. He decided he liked it. A lot. As in, he kept wiping his finger across the inside of the lid of the processor bowl. We thought we'd push it another step. Asked if he'd like to try the tortellini, telling him it was like cheesy pasta, only the cheese was on the inside.
Brave boy once again, he tested one. Liked it. Had a few more.

Thinking we had nothing to lose, we offered him a bowl of tortellini that had been tossed with the tomato/basil/garlic 'sauce' left in the processor. He downed it. Happily.

We basked in this small accomplishment. Our five year old had tried not one, but two new foods, and liked them.


To our immense surprise, over the weekend Alex asked if we could make that tomato tortellini dish again. He helped, adding ingredients and pushing buttons. We completely skipped the mayonnaise, instead adding a bit more cooking water and the oil from the bottom of the sun-dried tomato jar.

Alex had a rather large bowl of pasta that night. There was some left over, and I suggested he take it to school for lunch this week.

He thought that a most excellent idea.






We're kicking off our fourth year of Blog Party by taking a look back at some of our favorite first-year themes. This month, we're revisiting a BP favorite, Retro Party!

We're doing a bit of time-travel, and bringing back some of the weird and wonderful dishes & drinks from the 20's through the late sixties. You won't want to miss it! R.S.V.P. no later than THIS Thursday, 21 August. Hope to see you there!







Tagged with: Food and Drink + Dinner + Kids + Pasta + Tomatoes + Basil + Cheese