In the tons and tons of
available recipe and food information in books, on the web, in magazines over and over the words EASY and
QUICK come into play.  Who doesn't want something really tasty with as little fuss as possible?  I  know
there are plenty of you out there who search for that in a recipe...that's ok...we all don't share the same love
or obsession with food and it's preparation as others do, but somehow easy and quick many times turn into
pop open cans and pacakages and microwaves and now you're serving something that, well, something that
you could do alot better if you only had an idea.  I like shortcuts...however, I don't like turning my cooking
and the food I serve into something that is really not cooking at all.  Food snobbery?  Nope.  Sure, I'm
A FOOD OBSESSION, I get into this, and btw..if you are reading this, then I think you may want more out
of your meals than cans of food being dumped into microwave pans or Crock pots.  But I know,  who has the
time to be thinking and creating something that is elegant and restaurant quality without taking 10 cooking
lessons or enrolling in the CIA?  Guess what?  You do, you have the time..Let's make a dish together that
may become your company is coming over go to entree.  Skeptical?  Sure, why not...I will make a believer
out of you.  Let's think regional, as in a dish that is composed of ingredients and styles of a particular
region...like say....
   TUSCANY...(right now you are on the Arno River, running through the center of Firenze (Florence, Italy)...you're
hungry and you go to the market and buy some local ingredients...here's your shopping list...1 lb. of Spinach and
Cheese Tortellini, 1/2 lb. Grana Padano, a really nice local Tuscan Olive Oil..green and fruity, 2 firm fresh shallots,
1 tub of Mascarpone..salt and black peppercorns (hopefully your imaginary flat in Florence or in the hills of
Tuscany has a peppermill, details you can work out later...), 1/4 lb locally raised and cured Prosciutto di Toscana,
3 fresh sage leaves...now go back to your kitchen..and let's prepare a dish that will surprise you.
Finely Mince the shallots and the prosciutto.  In a big saute' pan, heat 2 tbs. of the olive oil and gently saute' the
shallots until they are soft, adding a little salt and pepper.  While they are sauteeing, cook the tortellini according
to the pacakge directions (Barilla's Spinach and Cheese tortellini are excellent for this dish, just the right size),
make sure you don't over cook them, soggy tortellini are punished by death..you've been warned.  Add the
prosciutto and mix well with the shallots...add 3 tbs. of White Wine and let this cook out, about 5 minutes on
medium heat.  Add
about 1 tsp. of fresh cracked black pepper to the mix.  Blend in.  Now turn off the heat, just make sure the\
shallots are soft, not crisp.  Add the tortellini and mix together.
  When you have mixed this together
well add 1/4 cup grated Grana Padano..this dish which speaks in the dialect of Tuscany and Northern
Italy needs the nutty flavor of a Grana or a Parmigiano-Reggiano to compliment the Tortellini.  Mix the
grated cheese in well. Now
the cheese will adhere to the hot pasta, delicious.  Finely chop 2 sage leaves or 1/2 tsp. of rubbed
sage and mix with 1/4 cup Mascarpone cheese.  Now mix this into the Tortellini till well blended,
keeping this on a very low flame the whole time.  When the Mascarpone ( a delicious Italian
Cream Cheese) is all mixed in you are now looking at "cream" sauce full of all those flavors.  Hey,
no butter?  Hey no flour?  Not necessary.  You've just created a silky yet not greasy or floury
cream sauce..just serve it immediately...reheating this causes the cheese to sort of just get absorbed
into the tortellini.  I'll say this should take you 1/2 hour start to finish...for a fancy cream sauced
Italian Tortellini dish you are saying?  Yup...pretty easy on the pots, pans and kitchen clean up too.
This serves 3-4, so for more people, just increase the recipe.
Buon Appetito..you are now the new Mario Batali or Lidia!!