Description
The most delicious way to eat tortellini – with pesto! For this recipe, it’s delicious hazelnut pesto. Kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, and sun-dried tomatoes are added for a bit of extra kick. This super easy recipe comes together in just 20 minutes. So delicious!
Ingredients
Scale
For the Tortellini:
- 1 recipe hazelnut pesto (below)
- 20–25 oz frozen cheese tortellini*
- 10 Kalamata olives
- 7 artichoke heart quarters
- 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes*
- olive oil, for drizzling
For the Hazelnut Pesto Sauce:
- 2 oz (3 herb packs) fresh basil
- 1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts
- 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- Salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
For the Hazelnut Pesto Sauce:
- Rinse the basil well and pat dry. Remove the stems and place the leaves in a food processor.
- Add the hazelnuts, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast to the food processor. Pulse, then blend until mostly smooth, but still a bit chunky. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl a few times to make sure everything is incorporated.
- Add salt and pepper to taste. If your nuts are salted, you likely won’t need any additional salt.
For the Tortellini:
- Cook the tortellini according to package directions, and drain well. Drizzle a bit of oil into the cooking pot, then transfer the tortellini back to the pan. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top, then stir it in.
- Make the hazelnut pesto, above.
- Cut the Kalamata olives and artichoke quarters in half, and chop the sun-dried tomatoes.
- Add the pesto, olives, artichokes, and tomatoes to the pan with the cooked tortellini, then gently stir to coat and combine.
- Serve immediately, with a veggie on the side (we made Brussels sprouts!).
Notes
You could also used dehydrated tortellini, though they will take longer to cook. I would guess that about 12 ounces of dry tortellini would roughly equal the amount of frozen tortellini used in this recipe.
I like to use sun-dried tomatoes in oil, but you could also use reconstituted dried sun-dried tomatoes.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: hazelnut, pesto tortellini, pasta, vegetarian, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes