Chicken Tortellini in Cream Sauce

Election season. November 2020. The most contentious election in my lifetime, and I have lived through elections on both sides of the border, and the contentiousness on this side is a luxury I recognize even as I participate in it: the luxury of arguing about democracy instead of not having it, the luxury of choosing badly instead of not choosing at all. I will vote. I will carry the certificate. I will cast the ballot. The ballot is the bridge I cross every Election Day — the bridge between the woman who couldn't vote and the woman who can, and the crossing is the citizenship, and the citizenship is the whole point.

The bakery is approaching year-end and the pandemic numbers are clarifying: 2020 revenue will be approximately seventy-three thousand, down from eighty-seven thousand in 2019. A sixteen percent drop. Significant but not fatal. The bakery survived. The employees were kept. The recipes were made. The conchas were baked. The survival is the headline. The sixteen percent is the subtext. And the subtext is temporary because Sofia has a plan — she always has a plan — and the plan includes the post-pandemic reopening and the return of the farmers' market and the expansion of the delivery service and the things she cannot yet predict but is already preparing for.

Camila's chorus resumed — limited, outdoor rehearsals, masks, social distancing. She went to her first rehearsal in seven months and she came home vibrating with the particular energy of a child who has been separated from her purpose and has been reunited with it. She said: "Ms. Torres said my voice has gotten stronger." I said: "You've been practicing." She said: "I've been singing to Rosa." She's been singing to Rosa. Every day, in her bedroom, at the ofrenda in the bakery, to the photograph on the wall. She has been singing to her dead grandmother for seven months, and the singing has made her voice stronger, and the stronger voice is Rosa's gift, because Rosa makes everything stronger — the bread, the children, the voices, the everything.

I made caldo de pollo for the week — the chicken soup of November, the warming soup, the election-week soup that doesn't care who wins because the soup is apolitical, the soup serves everyone, the soup is the democracy of the kitchen: everyone gets a bowl, and the bowl is equal, and the equality is the soup.

The caldo de pollo I made that week was never really about the election — it was about what the soup does, which is remind everyone at the table that hunger is the great equalizer and warmth is a form of citizenship too. When I want to carry that same spirit into a meal but give it a little more body, a little more richness for the cold months, I come back to this chicken tortellini in cream sauce: it is still the democracy of the kitchen, still apolitical, still a bowl for everyone, but dressed up the way you dress up when you want to honor the occasion. Camila calls it “the fancy caldo,” and she is not wrong.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 (9 oz) package refrigerated cheese tortellini
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small yellow onion, finely diced
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
2 cups fresh baby spinach
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

Cook the chicken. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper, then add to the skillet in a single layer. Cook 5–6 minutes, turning once, until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Sauté aromatics. Reduce heat to medium. In the same skillet, add the diced onion and cook 3–4 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, stirring constantly, until fragrant.
Build the sauce. Pour in the chicken broth and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the heavy cream, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes if using. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat.
Cook the tortellini. Add the refrigerated tortellini directly to the simmering sauce. Cook according to package directions, typically 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tortellini are tender and the sauce has thickened slightly.
Finish the dish. Return the cooked chicken to the skillet. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and baby spinach, cooking just until the spinach wilts, about 1–2 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Serve. Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh parsley and extra Parmesan if desired. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Chicken Tortellini in Cream Sauce — The Soup That Doesn’t Take Sides