How One Extra Prep Step Totally Transforms Your Tortellini Dish

Tortellini are no ordinary noodles; they're actually filled dumplings similar to ravioli. They're often boiled, although the cellblock chefs of Indiana's Westville Correctional Facility were able to prepare them in a microwave. Restaurateur Anthony Scotto Jr. of Avenue T Hospitality Group, however, suggests another way to cook tortellini that can be totally transformative. Scotto is the owner of the Nashville, Tennessee, restaurants Luogo and Pelato, and in his professional opinion, pan frying is the way to go.

"Pan frying with a little olive oil in a sauté pan brings out the flavors of the pasta and provides a slight crunch as a textural element. The char brings out the sweetness of tomato sauces and further renders [and] concentrates it," he explains. The best way to pan fry fresh tortellini, he tells us, is to coat the bottom of a pan with olive oil (not too much, though, lest the end product turn out greasy). The tortellini should be turned and tossed until all of the pieces are a little bit crunchy, but not burned. This method will also work for frozen and pre-cooked tortellini, since, as Scotto points out, "Pan frying is the best way to reheat things that are prone to getting mushy." He also feels it helps to amplify the taste, telling us, "The flavors that come out of the pasta ... when [it is] pan fried [are] to die for."

Once your tortellini are pan-fried, they'll need a delicious sauce to top them off. Anthony Scotto Jr. is partial to tomato-based sauces and has paired tortellini with both spicy sauces and vodka ones. "I tend to add pork in some way as well," he notes, although you could certainly choose to recreate Olive Garden's discontinued braised beef with tortelloni in marsala sauce or make a beef-based bolognese instead. (Tortellini, unlike "spaghetti bolognese," are a true product of Bologna.) A mushroom bolognese sauce is also an option if you prefer meatless pasta dishes.

Although Scotto observes that "cheese filled tortellinis are ... very versatile," they're not the only kind available. In fact, tortellini are traditionally stuffed with meat, whereas tortelloni are a similarly-shaped, yet meat-free, variety of pasta dumpling. Among the different kinds of tortellini (or tortelloni) available for purchase are sausage, spinach, and even pumpkin-filled ones (these are especially tasty with a brown butter sage sauce). A creamy alfredo sauce makes a great option for most types of tortellini-oni, or you can skip the sauce altogether and add them to soup or use cold ones in a pasta salad. Yet another way to serve this type of pasta is to skewer it with chunks of Italian bread, cheeses, cold cuts, and cherry tomatoes, and then dip it into pesto or vinaigrette. The lighter the sauce or dip, the better you'll be able to appreciate how pan-frying really brings out the flavor.