Tortellini means small little pies. Tortellini are small ring-shaped pasta originating from the Emilia or Bologna regions in Italy. It falls under the category of stuffed pasta and is usually stuffed with other food staples like meat, eggs, cheese, and nutmeg.
Tortellini are like small dumplings. The process of making them all by yourself could take a while. So, you wonder if you could make them all in one batch and save some till when you are ready to have them.
Can you freeze Tortellini? Yes, you can. Freezing Tortellini can help you prolong the shelf life for 2 to 3 months. There is always the problem of it turning into mush upon thawing, but that can be avoided if you freeze your Tortellini before cooking them.
Exceptional foreign dishes have found their way into everyday dishes, and have become something anyone that knows their way around the kitchen can make. This is exciting as it brings a lot of discovery and fun into the kitchen arena. With freezing, your cooking range is almost limitless. If you can freeze it, you won’t have to worry about it going bad.
How to Freeze Tortellini
You may have too many Tortellini on hand, or you just want to make all of these in one batch and eat some later. How do you go about freezing them? For the sake of completeness, we are going to talk about the two positions in which you can find yourself.
- Freezing Cooked Tortellini
- Freezing Fresh Tortellini
Freezing Cooked Tortellini
It takes about 9 minutes to cook tortellini. So cooking them isn’t some hard. Freezing it, however, is something else entirely. If you want to freeze cooked tortellini, there’s one thing you should do to keep it from turning into mush upon thawing.
Step 1: Undercook the Tortellini
If it takes 9 minutes to cook your tortellini till it’s done when you want to freeze them, cook them for only 5 minutes. This way, the Tortellini will still be firm to the touch and would keep its texture better. From here onwards, it’s like learning how to swing. Easy Peasy.
Step 2: Storage
Decide how you want to store your tortellini, in airtight freezer bags or containers. Before transferring the tortellini, make sure that it has cooled to room temperature and would not condense upon storage.
Condensation can cause mold which is bad for the tortellini. Expel as much air as you can from the bags before sealing.
Step 3: Freezing
Label the bags with the contents and date of the freeze so that it’s easy to keep track of what you have stored.
You can decide to double the bags if you are skeptical about them holding up as they freeze. Place the bag into the freezer and don’t forget it’s there.
Freezing Fresh Tortellini
You can get fresh frozen tortellini from convenience stores, and if you do, you should eat them as soon as they thaw. But if you just made a fresh batch of tortellini all by yourself, or got them from the store, here’s how to go about freezing them.
Step 1: Dust the Tortellini
Do you have some flour lying around? Good, dust the tortellini with flour. Dust both sides lightly with flour and let them rest for 5 minutes each.
Don’t freak out, Tortellini is made with flour. If you made them all by yourself, you should know that already.
Step 2: Flash Freezing
Flash freezing helps you set the tortellini and keep them from sticking together as it freezes.
Get a baking sheet and a silicone baking mat. The baking mat is to keep your tortellini from getting stuck to the sheet. Space each one and place the sheet into the freezer to freeze the tortellini solid.
Step 3: Storage and Freezing
After the tortellini has frozen solid, get them out of the freezer, shake off excess flour that might be on the tortellini, and pack them into an airtight freezer bag.
Suck out as much air as you can before you seal it. Also, do not forget to label the bag before you place it in the freezer to freeze. For best quality, you should eat your frozen tortellini within 3 months.
How to Thaw Frozen Tortellini
Frozen fresh tortellini can be boiled to eat directly from the freezer without leaving them out to thaw.
Frozen cooked tortellini on other hand, can be kept in the refrigerator to thaw overnight.
Tortellini contains raw eggs that must be kept at a food-safe temperature in other to keep them from breeding bacteria.
How to Recognize Spoiled Tortellini
The best way to tell if your tortellini has gone bad is by the appearance and smell. If you notice an odd smell or strange look in your tortellini, it is definitely an indication that it has gone bad.
If you notice mold upon closer inspection then, you should throw it out.
Do All Tortellini Have Cheese?
No, Not all Tortellini have cheese. Tortellini are made with flour, and they are traditionally stuffed pasta. Meaning that they can be stuffed with additives of your choice as long as you don’t overstuff them.
You can stuff them with slices of fruit, veggies, and even meat. But ensure that you cook the meat before stuffing it in the tortellini. The same goes for cheese, all tortellini do not have cheese someone had to have stuffed it.