Tortellini in a basil parmesan sauce (no cream!)

 The other day while cat sitting at my parents, I found the taste of home quick cooking 2010 Annual Recipes cookbook.  No I was not snooping, my mom has an area where she puts things she want to give us, and this was there...anyway, this recipe was the first one I opened up to.  I had a bunch of ham that I had cubed sitting in my fridge along with a package of fresh cheese tortellini.  It was like the recipe was calling to me!  So, the next day I made it with amazing results.  It was surprisingly fast and delicious!  Definitely going into my recipe repertoire. 

 Tortellini in a basil parmesan sauce (no cream!)

1 pkg (19 0z) fresh cheese tortellini

1 cup frozen pepper strips, thawed

3 Tbsp butter

1-1/4 cups cubed fulled cooked ham

1 tsp minced garlic

1-1/2 tsp cornstarch

½ cup chicken broth

1 tsp dried basil

½ tsp dried parsely flakes

¼ tsp pepper

4 Tbsp fresh grated parmesan cheese, divided

Cook the cheese tortellini according to package directions.  Meanwhile, in a large skillet, sauté the peppers in the butter until crisp-tender.  Add the ham and garlic; sauté 1 minute longer.  Combne the cornstarch, chicken broth, basil, parsley, and pepper; stir into pepper mixture.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.  Add 2 Tbsp parmesan cheese.

Drain tortellini; toss with ham mixture.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Yield 4 servings

NOTE: When red and green peppers are in season, I like to cut them into strips and use them in recipes like this.  They are also great in this Chicken Corn chowder soup (go to the end of the post for the recipe), or an amazing fajita dish I will be posting soon.

NOTE: When we have ham, I cube the leftovers and freeze them to have on hand.