JAMIE OLIVER AND GENNARO CONTALDO (AND I) TAKE ON TORTELLINI

I love making fresh homemade pasta and I actually have some really great memories with my mom growing up cranking out fettucinne in the kitchen.

Let it be no secret that I really enjoy Jamie Oliver's Food Tube and the great cooks and chefs he features on the channel. They do a really great job of highlighting great practices, bold, simple, but complex and yummy food. A while ago I watched Jamie and Gennaro make homemade tortellini which ended up being a recipe that Jamie put in his latest cookbook Comfort Food.

Can I just say that it looked like it took FOREVER to make this tortelini? During one of Boston's many blizzards this year I had the day off from work and set out to give it a shot. And yes, it did take forever to make this tortellini but it was definitely worth it.

Jamie suggests that you use leftover meat but I decided to just go out and get a small rotisserie chicken at Market Basket for about $6.00. Totally worth it and made a really good filling.

It was definitely delicious but I will say that the recipe for the filling a lot less cheesy than I had hoped for. If you give this a shot, I would suggest adding more parmesan. The lemon is pretty strong too but it adds a bit of freshness that helps cut through the heaviness of the pasta.

Also, make sure you get a partner--I didn't--and it took me way longer than I wanted it to.

Enjoy!

Here's Jamie and Gennaro explaining how to do it!

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