Beef Tortellini in a Creamy Tarragon and Mushroom Sauce

• large onion, chopped↗1⁄2
• teaspoons garlic, chopped↗2
• ounces mushrooms, sliced↗8
• teaspoon tarragon1 -2
• fresh basil (to taste)↗
• salt and pepper (to taste)
• cup cream↗1⁄3
• cup beef stock↗1⁄2
• tablespoon white wine or 1 -2 tablespoon vodka↗1 -2
• tablespoon olive oil↗1
• flour (as thickening agent for sauce) or cornstarch (as thickening agent for sauce)↗
• (370 g) package beef tortellini1

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   In a large pan, fry: onion, garlic and mushrooms in 1 tbsp of olive oil and season with salt/pepper/tarragon. Cook until onions become transparent and mushrooms start to sweat (3-4 minutes).

2. 2

   Add white wine to deglaze pan. Turn down heat.

3. 3

   Add beef stock and cream and allow the sauce to return to a slow simmer until mushrooms are cooked through and flavours saturate the sauce. (5-10 minutes).

4. 4

   At this point, if the sauce is still too thin you can whisk in flour to help thicken. To avoid clumps: whisk a bit of flour into a small amount of cool water in a cup and then add that to the sauce.

5. 5

   To make the sauce extra rich and flavourful, stir in some Romano or Parmesan cheese and add a couple of drops of truffle oil.

6. 6

   Add a few fresh basil leaves to sauce.

7. 7

   Meanwhile, salt water and boil pasta according to package instructions.

8. 8

   Combine pasta with sauce.

9. 9

   Enjoy.