Sue’s Spicy Tomato Basil Tortellini

The school cooking class program launched at Owasso Elementary. Tuesday evenings, 6-8 PM, in the cafeteria. Twenty families signed up for the first session. I stood in front of the same school where Brayden sits in class and Harper reads at a sixth-grade level and Wyatt paints Biscuit, and I taught twenty families how to make a one-pot chicken and rice meal using USDA commodity chicken and commodity rice. The irony of a dropout teaching in a school cafeteria is never not funny to me. The irony is the point.

Harper came as my assistant. She wore a small apron (a gift from Linda — custom made, which means Linda sewed it, which means Linda Turner is a woman of many skills and boundless grandmotherly love). Harper handed me ingredients. She measured rice. She told one mother, "You need to let the onions cook longer — they should be translucent." The mother looked at me. I shrugged. Harper is six and she knows what translucent onions look like. I can't explain it. I can only witness it.

After the class, a father — a big man, work boots, tired eyes — came up to me and said, "My wife left. I have two kids. I don't know how to cook anything." He said, "Can you teach me?" I said, "That's why I'm here." He said, "I mean, can you really teach me? Like, starting from nothing?" I said, "Sir, I started from nothing. Nothing is my specialty." He signed up for the full eight-week session. His name is Marcus (not the photographer Marcus — a different Marcus, because Oklahoma has a lot of Marcuses). Marcus the dad. Marcus who doesn't know how to cook. Marcus who will know how to cook in eight weeks, because I'm going to teach him, because that's the work, because the work is feeding people who don't know how to feed themselves.

The chicken and rice we made in that cafeteria was the class recipe — commodity ingredients, designed to stretch and feed and cost almost nothing. But the dish I keep in my back pocket for moments like Marcus, for people who are starting from nothing and need a win they can feel, is this one. Sue’s Spicy Tomato Basil Tortellini. One pot, forty minutes, and it looks like you know exactly what you’re doing even when you don’t. That’s the whole point. Sometimes the recipe is just confidence in disguise.

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

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (more to taste)
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 package (20 oz) refrigerated cheese tortellini
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly torn
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

Instructions

Soften the aromatics. Heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook for 5–6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until translucent and soft. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 more minute until fragrant.
Build the sauce. Pour in the crushed tomatoes and broth. Stir in the sugar, salt, and black pepper. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 10 minutes, letting the sauce thicken slightly.
Cook the tortellini. Add the tortellini directly to the simmering sauce. Stir to coat, cover the pan, and cook for 5–7 minutes — or according to package directions — until the tortellini are tender and cooked through.
Finish with cream and basil. Reduce heat to low. Stir in the heavy cream and torn basil leaves. Let it all come together for 1–2 minutes. Taste and adjust salt or red pepper as needed.
Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with grated Parmesan. Serve immediately with crusty bread if you have it.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sue’s Spicy Tomato Basil Tortellini — What I Teach When I Teach Starting From Nothing