When I first moved to FL three years ago the first restaurant I adventured was Giovanni's. Wow. It is a family owned Italian restaurant with amazing pasta dishes and pizza. Anyway, I ordered a Tortellini Giovanni. Which is a pasta dish with Tortellini with a Alfredo and marinara dish mix. It is now an all time favorite dish. I tried to recreate for my kiddos. I believe it was pretty successful. My kiddos devoured it and the husband loved it too.
Enjoy.
MEATBALLS
The meatballs are a variation of what my mom made on vacation. She added sausage to the mix and it was so good.
Here we go:
1.5 lbs of ground beef
1 lb of sausage, mild
1 egg
1/2 cp. milk
1 1/4 cp. planko bread crumbs
3 garlic cloves, grated
1/2 cp. parm cheese
2 TB. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
Mix until combined. Do not over mix. Form into balls and bake on 350 for about 20 minutes.
My Easy Marinara Sauce:
2 TB olive oil
1 Vidalia Onion, diced
1 Green Pepper, diced
5 cans of Fire Roasted Dice Tomatoes
3 TB Italian Seasoning, No salt
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
1/2 tsp. Crushed red pepper
1 tsp. sugar
1. Add the oil to a pan and add the onions and peppers. Cook a few minutes. Add the tomatoes and seasonings. I cooked this sauce without a lid all day. It was thick and flavorful.
The Sub:
1 sm. loaf of garlic bread
3-6 slices of mozzarella cheese
3 meatballs with a little of the sauce
1. I added the garlic bread and opened it. I added the cheese and broiled until the cheese was browned. I added the meatballs and closed the sandwich. Yum.
MY TORTELLINI GIOVANNI RECREATION
lb of Tortellini
1 stick of butter
8 oz. of Cream Cheese
1 cp. grated parm
1 cp. milk
1 cp. marinara sauce
1 cp. mozzarella
1. Boil the pasta.
2. Melt the butter and whisk in the cream cheese. Add the milk slowly and toss in the parm cheese and mozzarella (let melt). Add the one cup of marinara sauce. Let cook.
3. Add the tortellini to the sauce and cook.
EAT!!!!!
Honestly, one of the best pasta dishes ever. It may not be the best for ya, but well worth it!!!
