Tortellini a la Crème with Ham and Mushrooms

As a college student I spent a semester abroad in the food fanatic city of Strasbourg...home of three of the twenty-one Michelin three-star restaurants in France. When my parents visited, I was able to experience these palaces of haute cuisine, but my day-to-day budget was that of a typical student scavenger. This recipe, which can be found at almost any bar in the city, filled me up and left me plenty of francs to pursue my true passion at the time, Alsatian beer and wine. Vive la France!

• 2 pounds fresh or frozen cheese tortellini
• 2 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 cup sliced button mushrooms
• 1/2 cup asparagus tips
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup ham, thinly sliced into julienne strips
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the tortellini in salted, rapidly boiling water until they begin to float to the surface. They should still be springy to the touch. Remove the tortellini from the water and shock them with cold water to stop the cooking process.

In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat. (If you don't have a large pan, you will need to do this in two separate batches.) Add the garlic, mushrooms, asparagus, and ham to the pan and cook until the mushroom have released their liquid and are beginning to brown. More browning means more flavor, but the trade off is that the garlic could burn and turn your dish bitter, so be careful!

Add the whipping cream, turn up the heat, and let the whipping cream reduce by half. Add the Parmesan and tortellini to the pan and shake, flip or stir the ingredients around to coat the pasta. Heat the tortellinis through, salt and pepper to taste, and serve immediately. Garnish with a fresh chopped herb of your choosing. Experience tells me this dish goes superbly with a Krönenbourg beer or a semi-dry Alsatian Riesling.

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