Tuscan Tortellini

Creamy Tuscan tortellini are flavorful, quick, and super simple! One pan and 20 minutes transform store-bought tortellini into a gourmet meal with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, garlic, and cream. Short on time and energy? Simple recipes like this help you get dinner on the table fast. There’s a lot to love about this, friends. Let’s sum it up this way: maximum flavor, minimum effort. This recipe for creamy Tuscan tortellini is a delicious meatless riff on one of my most popular posts, Tuscan chicken. You’ll find many of the same flavors: garlic, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and Parmesan, for starters. Add tortellini and a luscious cream sauce to pull it all together? Hooo boy, that’s where the magic happens. Best of all, this filling meal is ready in just 20 minutes, and everything cooks together in one pan. That’s right – no separate pasta pot, no strainer, no sad sink full of dishes. Needless to say, this has already been added to our regular dinner rotation, especially since it fits my desire to eat more vegetarian mains.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ cup chicken, or vegetable broth
½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, see note
½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
6-8 cranks of freshly-ground black pepper
1 cup heavy cream
18-20 ounces fresh cheese, or spinach-filled tortellini
2 generous handfuls fresh baby spinach roughly chopped
¼ cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
juice of ½ lemon
1-2 tablespoons fresh basil, slivered, optional, for garnish

Instructions:
Add the olive oil and butter to a large skillet over medium heat. When the butter melts, add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for about 30 seconds, just until fragrant.
Add the broth, sun-dried tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Stir and bring to a simmer.
Stir in the cream, followed by the tortellini. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover the skillet. Cook for 5 minutes, then check the tortellini. If they’re not tender, return the lid and cook for 30-60 seconds more, but take care not to cook too long, or the sauce will separate. If you’re on the fence, go ahead and proceed with the next step.
Remove the lid, reduce heat again to low, and stir in spinach, Parmesan, and lemon juice. Let spinach wilt for about 1 minute. Season with additional salt and pepper, to taste. Serve right away with additional Parmesan or fresh slivered basil.

Notes:
I prefer the sun-dried tomatoes that are sold dried, rather than those packed in oil. You can buy them either in halves or julienned, which just means cut into small, thin strips. They’re often sold with the salad fixings or in the produce department.
Don’t worry if the sauce does separate – it still tastes wonderful, it just won’t appear quite so “creamy.”

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