Sausage and tortellini with vegetables

Before any one gets to excited about this recipe I will be up front with the fact that this was one of my "use whats left in the freezer" meals.  It is potty training time in our home and most of my time is spent chasing my two year old around making sure every thing stays "dry"; so today my cooking/baking had to suffer a little. I enjoyed this meal though and I would suggest that you give a version of this a try some time.

Ingredients

- 1 small bag of frozen tortellini

- 1 bag of frozen vegetables (I used a fiesta mix with kidney beans, broccoli, red peppers, chickpeas, white beans, and carrots)

- 4 medium links of your favorite sausage (I used Italian sausage stuffed with peppers, sun dried tomatoes and mozzarella)

- 1 jar of pasta sauce (Our home is faithful to the Francesco Rinaldi brand)

1) Start a pot of water on the stove to boil your tortellini. Turn the broiler on for your oven, place your sausage on a baking sheet and place in the oven under the broiler; broil on each side for 3-4 minutes each. Also, place your vegetables in a large skillet with 2 tsp of oil to heat them or steam them in a steaming dish in the microwave, while you wait for your water to boil and sausage to cook. And, heat your pasta sauce in a 4 quart pot on medium to low until hot.

2) Once your sausage is finished, remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly; then, slice into 1/2 pieces.

3) After you have prepped your vegetables, boiled and drained your tortellini, sliced your sausage, and heated your pasta sauce you are ready to assemble.  You can do this is whatever order you would like. Top with cheese and serve with garlic bread.

Like I said, not my best recipe contribution, but it is quick, easy, tasty and makes some space in your freezer for you to head out and stock up on more ingredients for new recipes.  One suggestion that I do have is that fresh vegetables with make a more crisp and flavorful addition then frozen, but frozen still gets the job done.

Enjoy!!