Tortelini with Sage Butter Sauce

Our niece Lily loves pasta, in fact tortellini is one of her favorites, it was also one of my favorites as a kid. While Lily eats her pasta plain, her mom & dad would probably appreciate a sauce! The traditional cream sauce would be much too heavy for the hot summer in Arizona. A butter sage sauce is lighter yet delicious.

6 tablespoons butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon fresh chopped sage
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1 pound fresh or frozen cheese-filled tortellini
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

In a medium frying pan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally and mashing the garlic with the back of a wooden spoon, until it is soft and golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the sage, salt and pepper.
In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the tortellini until just done, about 4 minutes for fresh and 12 minutes for frozen. Drain the pasta and return to the pot.
Add the butter and parsley and toss over low heat until the pasta is thoroughly coated with the butter, about 1 minute.