Ingredients:

1 lb cheese tortellini, fresh or frozen (regular or tricolor)

5 Ozs prosciutto, thick cut, divided

4 Ozs Gorgonzola cheese

1/2 cup heavy cream, more if needed (see tips)

4 TBSPs grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Salt and pepper to taste 

Butter to grease pan

Optional but highly recommended: 3 TBSPs walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F.

Slice prosciutto into strips and set aside.

Place cream, Gorgonzola, 1/2 of the prosciutto, 2 TBSPs of the grated Parmesan, ground pepper to taste and walnuts (if using) into a food processor and blend well until a creamy sauce is achieved.

Generally grease a casserole ovenproof dish with butter and set aside.

Boil tortellini in hot salted water according to package directions but making sure to undercook (Al dente) since they will continue cooking in the oven.

Gently stir tortellini with cream sauce until well coated.

Place evenly into prepared casserole dish.

Sprinkle top with remaining strips of prosciutto and grated cheese.

Add an additional sprinkle of pepper over the top, if desired.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until casserole surface is golden brown. If necessary, use the broiling option to finish it off for color.

Serve hot.

Makes 4 servings.

TIPS:

I sometimes make this dish using speck instead of prosciutto. Regular prosciutto is cured. Speck is smoked prosciutto, giving this dish a deeper flavor.

If you don’t like gorgonzola, feel free to substitute with goat cheese, cream cheese, ricotta or any soft cheese you prefer. Also, adjust cream accordingly (add more if you want a less dense sauce).

This dish looks very elegant but if you want to take it to an even higher level, especially for the Holidays, use tricolor tortellini and bake them in 4 individual serving mini casserole dishes. Decorate with fresh parsley and Voilà!