You know that whole unwritten rule about how you’re supposed to eat light (read: nothing) the day before Thanksgiving? Well, that’s shot to hell.

SOMEONE (read: Kelly) requested sauce and meatballs for dinner upon her arrival in Syracuse. My mom vetoed that idea, claiming that we wouldn’t have room in the refrigerator for those leftovers and all the Thanksgiving leftovers. Apparently she forgot that, in Syracuse, in November, our three car garage is essentially refrigerator space. Whatevs.

Anyway, this seafood tortellini is one of Kelly’s other favorite dishes, so we decided to make that instead. For a long time (read: until 2 years ago) I claimed I hated all seafood. Other than the occasional shrimp cocktail doused in cocktail sauce (read: ketchup), I didn’t touch the stuff.

Kelly and Morgan would beg to go to Doug’s Fish Fry, where they would house haddock dinners, and I would either pick at french fries or sit and sulk while eating nothing. (This maybe happened twice. I’m feeling a little dramatic today).

I’m not sure what sparked my transition to liking seafood. Maybe it was because I realized that I was an adult and if I wanted to be taken seriously in the food world (let’s be honest, this is never happening) I should probably not exclude an entire food group. Now, I’ll eat all of it. Calamari, scallops, oysters, mussels, clams, every kind of fish.

I almost just typed “Call me the Little Mermaid” and then realized that that would seem cannibalistic.

And then I typed it anyway.

So here it is, a heavy and delicious dish with a bunch of stuff from under the sea. Make it after Thanksgiving, when you’re all poultry-ed out.

Seafood Tortellini

2 pounds cheese filled tortellini

1 stick butter

2 cups heavy cream

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

3/4 lb shredded parmesan cheese, divided

1/2 pound broccoli florets

1/2 pound sliced carrots

1 lb crab meat*

1 lb shrimp

Steam the carrots and broccoli. We use frozen, always fine.

Cook the seafood if it isn’t pre-cooked. Now, my mom always makes this dish with imitation crab. If that gives you the heebie jeebies, break out some dinero and buy real crab. It doesn’t offend me, because it’s still fish, but you decide. She also uses pre-cooked shrimp to cut out that step.

Cook the tortellini in boiling water- it should only take about 3 minutes.

Combine softened butter, heavy cream, garlic powder, pepper, and about half of the cheese.

Add the veggies to the tortellini, with half of the sauce. Stir together. Add the seafood and the rest of the sauce.

Pour into a casserole dish, and top with additional parmesan cheese if desired. I skipped this, because Kelly doesn’t like it and I’m an angel.

Bake at 250 degrees until heated through- this cooking time will vary based on whether or not you make it ahead and refrigerate it, but everything is pre-cooked.

Vegetables cancel out heavy cream. This is just simple math.