Pesto Tortellini is a hearty and creamy dish with a touch of heat from the red pepper and acidity from the tomatoes. Ready in only 30 minutes, this is the perfect dinner time meal!
The flavor profile of this Pesto Tortellini dish is absolutely incredible, rich, and has an amazing depth of flavors, ones that we absolutely cannot resist.
With every bite, you’ll get hints of different flavors, like creaminess from the cream cheese, a touch of nutty flavoring to the pesto sauce, garlic, a hint of earthiness from the basil, kale, and shallot.
This is filling decadent pasta dish with a nice touch of acidity from the tomatoes, a little heat from the red pepper flakes, and it is nicely balanced out with the lemon juice and lemon zest in the recipe.
Anytime the family sees this Pesto Tortellini dinner recipe with our Easy Garlic Bread on the meal plan for the week they secretly get excited knowing how delicious this meal is.
I don’t have too picky of eaters in my house since my kids have finally grown into teens, they have opened there flavor palate up so much that the really enjoy so many different things.
And that is what it makes it so fun to experiment in the kitchen, especially with this Pesto Tortellini, it has everything I like and they have never complained and nothing ever remains.
Some of my other favorite pasta recipes we have on our site include: Lemon Ricotta Pasta, One Pot Cajun Pasta, and Ground Beef Carbonara.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- Dinner is ready and on the table in 30 minutes.
- Easy to double or increase this dish so you have plenty for leftovers or guests.
- You can use a homemade pesto or you can use a store bought one as well.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM)
Cherry tomatoes
Shallot
Garlic cloves
Red pepper flakes
Pine nuts
Kale
Sea salt
Black pepper
Lemon zest
Basil leaves
Grated parmesan
Extra virgin olive oil
Softened cream cheese
Cheese tortellini
Fresh chopped basil leaves
Shaved parmesan
HOW TO MAKE PESTO TORTELLINI, STEP BY STEP:
- First, preheat a frying pan over medium to high heat while you bring 4 cups of salted water to a boil.
- Next, add the olive oil to the frying pan and swirl to coat the pan. Toss in the cherry tomatoes and season lightly with sea salt. Cook the tomatoes until they’re blistered, which normally takes about 3 minutes. Remove the blistered tomatoes from the pan and set them aside.
- Now, add the shallot, 3 cloves of sliced garlic, and a pinch of red pepper flakes to the pan and stir and sautรฉ everything together for 3 minutes.
- The water should be boiling by now, so add the tortellini and cook for 5 minutes.
- Now, add the pine nuts and kale to the frying pan and drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top, and season with salt and pepper.
- Let it cook for 2 minutes before pouring a ladle full (about 1/3 cup) of the pasta water over the top of the frying pan with ingredients. Stir everything together and cook for 2 more minutes, before folding in the lemon zest.
- Grab the lemon wedge and squeeze it over the top of the pan and remove it from heat.
- Take everything from the frying pan and put it into a food processor or blender and purรฉe it all together. Now, add in the rest of the garlic, basil, parmesan, and olive oil to the food processor or blender and purรฉe for another 20 seconds.
- Put everything back in the frying pan over medium heat before adding the tortellini with the pesto.
- Then, add the softened cream cheese to the pan and stir it all together until well combined.
- Carefully add in the tomatoes.
- Stir and then garnish with chopped basil and shaved parmesan. Server and enjoy!
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN THE TORTELLINI IS DONE?
When your tortellini starts to float to the top of the pot, it’s ready! Be very careful not to overcook the tortellini. You can use fresh or frozen, whatever is more convenient for you.
HOW DO YOU BLISTER TOMATOES?
To properly blister your tomatoes, start by adding olive oil to the pan and swirl it around so it coats the whole pan and prevents the tomatoes from sticking and burning on the pan.
Blistering the tomatoes really brings out the acidity of the tomatoes and adds so much flavor to this dish. The blistered tomatoes will be soft after this so be careful when handling them.
WHAT IS TORTELLINI STUFFED WITH?
Traditional tortellini stuffed with ricotta cheese. This type of stuffed pasta originated in Italy, but since it has been taken around the world, many chefs have chosen to add other ingredients alongside the ricotta cheese to stuff the tortellini with.
Commonly, when you grab a bag of stuffed tortellini at the store, it’s a 3 cheese stuffed tortellini, being stuffed with romano, parmesan, and ricotta cheese.
HOW TO STORE:
You can store this fantastic pasta dish in an airtight container in the refrigerator where it will keep for up to 3-5 days.
This can also be frozen, place leftovers in an airtight container and it will keep frozen for up to 3 months.
To defrost place in the refrigerator overnight and then you can reheat on the stove with a little broth or in the microwave.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- While it isn’t necessary, seasoning the water before adding the pasta helps add flavor to the pasta, it’s so delicious and worth it.
- Kale takes much longer to wilt than spinach but it is used in this recipe because even once it is slightly wilted it will still have a slight crunch to it and it is incredibly healthy.
- Using the pasta water is important as it helps break the ingredients down.
- Adding lemon zest brightens up the pesto sauce and squeezing a wedge of lemon adds a nice acidic flavor to pair well with the blistering tomatoes in this recipe.
- You want to add everything back to the frying pan over medium heat because it helps the pesto blend and coat the tortellini nice and easily.
- You’ll get your nice hearty, creamy flavor in this savory dish by stirring until the cream cheese is fully melted and infused with the pesto sauce.
- If you want you can use store bought pesto, just make sure that you use the same amount as the recipe calls for.
- This can be frozen, see my tips above.
Ready for a rich Pesto Tortellini that is bursting with flavor and is such a simple dish to make, this delicious recipe is ready for you to whip up and grace that dinner table.!
IF YOU LIKE THIS RECIPE YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
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Pesto Tortellini
Ingredients
Blistered Tomatoes:
- 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Creamy Pesto Sauce:
- 1 shallot thinly sliced
- 5 garlic cloves thinly sliced, divided
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- ยผ cup pine nuts
- 2 cups chopped kale
- Pinch of sea salt
- Pinch of black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 cup basil leaves
- ยฝ cup grated parmesan
- ยฝ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 8 ounces softened cream cheese
Tortellini:
- 1 pound cheese tortellini
Garnish:
- ยฝ Tablespoon fresh chopped basil leaves
- Shaved parmesan
Instructions
- First, preheat a frying pan over medium to high heat while you bring 4 cups of salted water to a boil.
- Next, add the olive oil to the frying pan and swirl to coat the pan. Toss in the cherry tomatoes and season lightly with sea salt. Cook the tomatoes until they're blistered, which normally takes about 3 minutes. Remove the blistered tomatoes from the pan and set them aside.
- Now, add the shallot, 3 cloves of sliced garlic, and a pinch of red pepper flakes to the pan and stir and sautรฉ everything together for 3 minutes.
- The water should be boiling by now, so add the tortellini and cook for 5 minutes.
- Now, add the pine nuts and kale to the frying pan and drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top, and season with salt and pepper.
- Let it cook for 2 minutes before pouring a ladle full (about 1/3 cup) of the pasta water over the top of the frying pan with ingredients. Stir everything together and cook for 2 more minutes, before folding in the lemon zest.
- Grab the lemon wedge and squeeze it over the top of the pan and remove it from heat.
- Take everything from the frying pan and put it into a food processor or blender and purรฉe it all together. Now, add in the rest of the garlic, basil, parmesan, and olive oil to the food processor or blender and purรฉe for another 20 seconds.
- Put everything back in the frying pan over medium heat before adding the tortellini with the pesto.
- Then, add the softened cream cheese to the pan and stir it all together until well combined.
- Carefully add in the tomatoes.
- Stir and then garnish with chopped basil and shaved parmesan. Server and enjoy!
Notes
- While it isn't necessary, seasoning the water before adding the pasta helps add flavor to the pasta, it's so delicious and worth it.
- Kale takes much longer to wilt than spinach but it is used in this recipe because even once it is slightly wilted it will still have a slight crunch to it and it is incredibly healthy.ย
- Using the pasta water is important as it helps break the ingredients down.
- Adding lemon zest brightens up the pesto sauce and squeezing a wedge of lemon adds a nice acidic flavor to pair well with the blistering tomatoes in this recipe.ย
- You want to add everything back to the frying pan over medium heat because it helps the pesto blend and coat the tortellini nice and easily.
- You'll get your nice hearty, creamy flavor in this savory dish by stirring until the cream cheese is fully melted and infused with the pesto sauce.ย
- If you want you can use store bought pesto, just make sure that you use the same amount as the recipe calls for.
- This can be frozen, see my tips above.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
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