Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Weeknight Dinner

Hi All! I hope you are having a great week so far! I know a lot of kiddos went back to school this week - those days are over for me but somehow the mind still goes into "back to school" mode in early September regardless. The summer is unofficially over, and it's time to buckle down and get back into a routine. 

For me, I need to get back into a workout routine. But that's a whole different post for another day. Sigh.  

For you moms and dads out there looking to put a quick meal on the table on a weeknight - this one's for you! It's quick, healthy, and amazingly delicious! (Amazeballs according to my daughter.....)

This would also work well for a daughter looking to impress her date with a nice home cooked meal. Ahem. 

My meal plans during the growing season generally start with whatever the garden is spitting out en masse that week. This week it's TOMATOES - we've been pulling in bucket loads, many of which are sort of a large grape tomato (or possibly a small plum tomato?)

So a quick gathering of what I needed:
Tomatoes (duh)
Fresh Cheese Tortellini  (Note: You could also use angel hair or linguine in this recipe, I just happen to love it with cheese tortellini) 
A Decent Olive Oil
Freshly Ground Sea Salt & Pepper
Salted Butter
Fresh Basil
2 Large Garlic Cloves (not shown, it was fresh out of the garden and I still had to wash it!)
Romano or Parmesan Cheese 
Low Sodium Fat Free Chicken Broth

And a Nice Glass of Wine for the Cook. I chose a Provence Rose. Just because. 

Slice your tomatoes in half if they are large grape tomatoes/small plum tomatoes like mine. Cherry tomatoes I just put on the baking sheet whole - they will pop when they heat anyway.

Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes. I baked mine in the toaster oven because it was quite warm out alst night so I didn't want to turn on the oven - and it worked perfectly.

While the tomatoes are roasting, put your water on to boil - I use a large pot to give the tortellini lots of room. And I don't think they need any salt since there is salt in the filling so I omit the salt I usually use in my pasta cooking water. That whole "salty like the ocean" instruction for pasta water certainly doesn't apply here!

I also took advantage of the cooking time to scrub the garlic we harvested. Look how beautiful it is!

Next I chopped some fresh basil and put it aside. Then I chopped two large cloves of fresh garlic - that brought my daughter into the kitchen! What an amazing aroma!! There is a huge difference between supermarket garlic and home grown organic garlic - wow. LOVE!

When the tomatoes were nearly done I cooked the tortellini according to the package directions and dumped them into a colander to drain. 

Into the same pot went a light drizzle of olive oil and 2 tbs of salted butter. 

And then the garlic.Oh my, the GARLIC!!! Cooked just until golden....and the aroma throughout the entire house was pure heaven. I'm surprised the bears didn't come knocking at the door. 

The tomatoes were done roasting - look how beautiful they are! They kept their shape but released their flavor, as roasted tomatoes do so well. Gorgeous!

Into the pot they went, with about a cup of chicken stock, more or less. I do make my own chicken broth and keep it in the freezer in ziplock bags but for something quick like this I always keep some low sodium fat free broth in the panty. 

Back into the pot went the cooked tortellini along with the chopped basil. 

A quick gentle stir to combine (you don't want to break the tortellini) and this was the end result. 

Some freshly shaved romano tops off this dish - pure heaven in a bowl, right there. 

Note: this served two for dinner plus two light lunches the next day. 

Mangia!