Good Eating Monday: Loaded Basil & Garlic Tortellini

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It's Monday! It's sunny now, but was raining from the western fringe of a tropical storm moving over eastern Florida. 
It was getting a little dry, so the steady drizzle has been good!

Today's Good Eating recipe is a Pinterest recipe for meatless  Tortellini meat that I converted into a "Loaded" Tortellini meal by adding leftover grilled steak & more veggies! 
It's a great recipe for home grown garden tomatoes, any color, and fresh Basil!
 Hubby does NOT like meatless meals and I had leftovers to use up in the frig! This tortellini recipes really lends itself to any sort of upgrade you want to make to it and is terrific for using with anything you have on hand or want to use for meat: chicken, beef, pork, shrimp,wieners, kielbasa--whatever!
The original meatless recipe is available here @ McCormick.

Photo is of the original meatless version from McCormick
Loaded Basil & Garlic Tortellini
1 8oz package Tortellini, boiled & drained.
1 cup or more sliced meat of your choice. (I used leftover grilled top sirloin steak)
1 cup sliced fresh Baby Portabella Mushrooms OR 1 large can (14 1/2 oz) undrained sliced mushrooms.
1 15oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained (or sub freshed chopped tomatoes for all tomatoes in this recipe!)
3/4 cup fresh sliced grape tomatoes (slice in half lengthwise)
1 cup frozen mixed-color Bell Pepper strips (or use 1 fresh Bell, sliced if you prefer)
1 Tablespoon Dried Basil or 1/2 cup chopped fresh Basil
1/2 cup sliced onion
1 clove garlic, minced 
1 Tablespoon olive oil
*1/2 teaspoon sugar if using fresh grape tomatoes (a bit of sugar improves the flavor of fresh tomatoes by reducing their acidity.)
Salt & pepper to taste
1 package shredded part-skim Mozzarella cheese for serving with 1/4 cup on each plateful.

Directions
Cook Tortellini as directed in salted water, then drain well.
In a large skillet on med-high heat add oil & minced garlic and saute about 15 seconds to get garlic flavor into oil. Then add mushrooms, Bell pepper, diced tomatoes, onions, sugar and meat and saute until onion is transparent & meat is heated through.
 Stir in drained Tortellini, fresh grape tomato halves, Basil and season to taste with salt & pepper and let simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
Serve topped with 1/4 cup of shredded Mozzarella on each plate. Yummy with Garlic Bread on the side!

(Note: this recipe isn't terribly saucy, so if you want a bit more sauce, you might consider adding 1 small 8oz can of tomato sauce during cooking.)

  Hubby and I thought this recipe was the most flavorful on the 2nd day as we ate the leftovers, but that's not uncommon with Italian pasta type dishes. 
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Eat up, me hearties, yo-ho!

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