Making Robert’s Homemade Italian Sausage is simple and delicious. Extra lean meat, little sugar and salt, and a ton of taste in every bite. Any recipe that calls for Italian sausage should call for this.
| Prep Time: | 35 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 50 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 28 tortellini |
Ingredients
- 7 saltine crackers, finely crushed
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 6 ounces lump crabmeat, very well drained, squeezed dry
- 6 ounces Dungeness crabmeat, very well drained, squeezed dry
- ¼ teaspoon seafood seasoning (such as Old Bay®)
- salt to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon minced jalapeno pepper
- 28 (3.5 inch square) wonton wrappers, or as needed
- 1 ½ cups creme fraiche
- 1 teaspoon ground paprika
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest
- salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, or more to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Crush crackers into a bowl. Add egg, mascarpone cheese, Dijon mustard, and Worcestershire sauce; stir until combined. Let sit until crumbs have absorbed some moisture, about 5 minutes.
- Add crab meat, seafood seasoning, salt, cayenne pepper, and jalapeno to the cracker mixture; stir until just combined. Wrap and chill in the refrigerator until flavors develop, about 1 hour.
- Place a wonton wrapper on a work surface to resemble a diamond shape. Wet the top 2 edges with just enough water to moisten. Place 1 tablespoon crab filling right in the center and press to spread it out a bit. Pull the bottom wonton corner up and over the filling, line it up with the top corner to form a triangle, and work your way down the sides, pressing and sealing the wonton edges and pushing out any air. Press your finger right in the center of the long side to create a fold (or bend) in the triangle. Moisten the 2 “wings” and fold around the bend to seal. Repeat to form remaining tortellini.
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
- While waiting for water to boil, place creme fraiche in a skillet over medium heat. Add paprika, lemon zest, salt, and a splash of the pasta water. Cook and stir until heated through and just starting to simmer, then turn off the heat and reserve.
- Add tortellini to the boiling water, giving a gentle stir make sure they don’t stick to the bottom. Cook for 1 minute; they may or may not float to the surface. Remove tortellini with a slotted spoon and transfer into the reserved sauce.
- Turn heat to medium-high and cook, gently stirring and basting, until sauce is heated through and just starts to simmer. Don’t overcook or the sauce will reduce too much. Turn off the heat and stir in dill. Serve immediately on warm plates and sprinkle with additional dill and cayenne.
- You can substitute bread crumbs and a little salt for the crushed crackers, cream cheese for the mascarpone cheese, and any herb of choice for the dill. If you want to use regular cream instead of creme fraiche, just add a few drops of lemon juice to increase the acidity.
- When you open the package of wonton wrappers, place a just barely damp towel over top so they don’t dry out.
- You can make these tortellini with any filling you’d like, and you can use either square or round wonton wrappers.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 651 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 41 g |
| Cholesterol | 247 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 28 g |
| Saturated Fat | 26 g |
| Sodium | 765 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 44 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
This was spectacular! The perfect balance of flavors. It was quick and easy to put together for dinner. The sauce was a phenomenal way to highlight the delicate flavor of the crab. Don’t sleep on the creme fraiche. I cooked my tortellini too long and let my sauce reduce too much but will know for next time. My tortellini stuck to the bottom of the pan so keep them moving. I can’t wait to try all different fillings I think with practice these could become a staple dinner. Thanks, Chef John!
The crab tortellini were nice, the sauce was nice, I didn’t care for them together. Maybe some garlic and butter or butter and lemon instead of a creamy sauce would be more to my taste. The tortellini needed longer than a minute for the wonton wrapper to cook where the ends are pinched together.
Oh my! This was luscious. Rich, filling and surprisingly easy. (After you have hunted through several stores and finally found creme fraiche for nearly $5 for a tiny cup, you will see what he means about making your own for a fraction of the cost! Like almost all of Chef John’s recipes, he demystifies and demonstrates how easy the creme fraiche technique is for the home cook.) I’ve made this tortellini a couple of times and I now make double the dumplings and freeze half. Thaws well so all you have to do is cook and sauce. Thanks again, Chef!
Don’t let the 4 stars fool you, I still think this was good. I however think the sauce could be better it was just too basic. AND the main reason for 4 stars, it was relatively expensive and cumbersome to make…. However IF you get crab cheap and WANT a fun meal to make with spouse/kids etc then yes 5 stars is worth it!
Excellent recipe, flavors were delicious. Not too difficult to make. No leftovers. Definitely will make again!
The flavours were incredible!
Came out perfect. I opted to make our own pasta dough instead of using won ton wrappers. The ingredient amounts were just perfect and we didn’t need to change anything. I’d definitely make this again!