Tortellini with Chorizo Sauce

We made this dinner last week, another easy comfort-food dinner, made with pantry and freezer ingredients.
Served with a side of veggies (carrots and zucchini cooked in the microwave), it's a simple but wholesome dinner.

My son wanted to be in charge of dinner, so I directed and he prepared.  It was fun, and simple enough that he could do it all himself, starting with salting the pasta water.

I buy chorizo at the grocery store, in the meat section near the hotdogs and hispanic foods, and keep them in the freezer since I never use more than one at a time and they're sold in packs of 8.

One thing we learned the hard (messy!) way is don't forget to pierce the skin of the sausage if you decide to defrost it in the microwave.  Ka-Boom!

Of course, that's how my son learned the all-important lesson: when something explodes in the microwave, clean it up right away!

Tortellini with Chorizo Sauce

1 chorizo sausage
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes
1/2 cup V8 juice*
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup diced onions

1 lb dried tortellini

* if you don't have V8, you can substitute a small can of tomato paste and use 3/4 cups chicken broth instead)

Put a large pot of water on to boil, salted and covered.
Brown the sausage in a wide non-stick frying pan.  Add the diced onions (you may have these in the freezer if you do this) and cook until the onions are soft.  Add the liquids and bring to a simmer.

By this time, your water should be boiling.  Add the tortellini and cook according to the package (typically about 11 minutes).

Let the sauce simmer while the pasta cooks.  Microwave the veggies and set the table.

Drain the tortellini and add them to the sauce.  Mix and serve.

Total preparation time: about 20 minutes.

For the record, it's helpful to actually put the vegetables on the table when you eat, instead of leaving them in the microwave where you will find them the next morning....