Pesto Tortellini
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!
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 671kcal
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
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 2 cups chopped kale
- Pinch of sea salt
- Pinch of black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 cup basil leaves
- ½ cup grated parmesan
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 8 ounces softened cream cheese
Tortellini:
- 1 pound cheese tortellini
Garnish:
- ½ 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 sauté 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 purée it all together. Now, add in the rest of the garlic, basil, parmesan, and olive oil to the food processor or blender and purée 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.
- 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.
Nutrition
Calories: 671kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 49g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 22g | Cholesterol: 74mg | Sodium: 1002mg | Potassium: 387mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 3419IU | Vitamin C: 42mg | Calcium: 299mg | Iron: 4mg