Go-To Meals: Mama's Pumpkin Tortellini

Hey y'all! I'm here today with another great go-to recipe to help you with your weekly Broke Butt Menus. Just like all the others Mama will teach you, then recipe uses a lot of things from your Pantry List to help cut costs. Not to mention, it's a seasonal family favorite here at my house. When the leaves start changing and the air starts cooling down, there are few things that warm you up like a hot bowl of Mama's Pumpkin Tortellini!

Here's what you need:
* 1 pound of Italian sausage, mild (or Jimmy Dean Sage Breakfast sausage... both are great in this)
* 1 onion (chopped)
* 1 can pure Pumpkin
* 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
* 1 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon sage
* 2 packages frozen tortellini (store brand is less and just as delish)
* 1 cup water reserved from the cooking of the tortellini
* Shredded Parmesan for finishing
(If you aren't feeding 5 very hungry people, feel free to cut all of this in half... except the meat. Because it's meat. )
(Also... you can add kale to this if you want some green in your life. It's really yummy! I promise! Just rip the leaves of the stems into little bite size bits and toss it in when you cook your meat.)

Ready to go? Great! First things first, let's cook our noodles.

Tortellini is one of the easier noodles to cook. Salt your water until it tastes like the sea, bring it up to a nice, rolling boil, and dump the little critters right in. In about 3-5 minutes, they will all start floating. That means they are done. Steal away 1 cup of water from the pot to set aside for the sauce, then drain the noodles into a colander and let them chill out while you start your sauce. 

This sauce is SO easy peasy! Just like in the picture above, you will brown and crumble your meat in a skillet set on medium high heat. Add in your onion, then cook those together until everything is lovely and tender. Plop in the whole can of pumpkin and mix that together until it is completely combined. Then add in the heavy cream and stir until it is thick and lovely. 

(Oh, how I love that stuff!) 

Add in your reserved cup of noodle water, a little extra salt, pepper, and your lovely sage. Even if you went with the Jimmy Dean sausage, I still add the sage. It really deepens the flavor nicely. Stir to combine all that yummy-ness. My goodness this is making me hungry again!

Now it's time to bring your noodles into the game. Pour all of those little bad boys into the skillet with the sauce, toss them around until every one is coated, then stir in a little nutmeg. You'll be glad you did. 

(Broke Butt Mama tip: Look in the Hispanic section at your grocer's for spices. They are the same spices, but they tend to be much less expensive. I got the nutmeg in the photo above for around $2 less than the store brand in the spice aisle!)

Now the only thing left to do is scoop some onto plates, garnish with Parmesan, and gobble it up! I like to serve mine with garlic bread and maybe a little salad. 

I hope you try it out and love it as much as my crew does! Don't be afraid to leave a comment or suggest something you might want to learn about. And remember, Mama loves you!