Currently, I’m in a rotation of four food groups, Asian, Indian, Mexican, and then every once in a while…a random Italian recipe gets thrown into the mix. I’m not sure what’s going on with my family, but we’ve all been wanting a good amount of Asian and especially Indian-inspired recipes. In fact, as I type this, I have golden rice and curry cooking away on the stove for yet another family dinner. Everyone has really taken a liking to dishes with lots of flavor and spice. Honestly, my brothers have all been surprising me with what they’ve been requesting. They’ve really come such a long way from their chicken and rice days. I’ve found I’m actually enjoying cooking for everyone these days. It’s a lot of work, but we don’t always get to be together. So I’m taking advantage of this time and testing out as many recipes as I can on these guys. The one thing about brothers is that they’ll always tell it to you like it is… If they love something, they really LOVE it. And if something is not that great, I’m going to hear about it. Not in a mean way, but in a, “yeah, that wasn’t my favorite” kind of way.
Anyway, in an effort to switch things up a bit, I thought I’d make some easy Italian style pasta. Originally this was just going to be a roasted red pepper pasta, because the other two things I’m currently obsessed with are red peppers and red Fresno peppers. But then I opened the fridge and saw one lingering box of cheese tortellini. I decided that while roasted red pepper pasta sounded good, roasted red pepper cheese tortellini sound even better. And that’s how I finally came to make the simplest cheesy, red pepper tortellini.
Here are the quick details.
To give the sauce a bit of extra flavor, I decided to cook up the shallots and garlic in a little olive oil before pureeing them with the roasted red peppers. Pureeing the shallots, garlic, and peppers will leave you with a silky smooth red pepper sauce. Once you have the sauce made, this comes together in minutes. You’ll want to cook up a little tomato paste, add a splash of vodka, then stir in the red pepper sauce. For the vodka, I pretty much always add a splash to most of my tomato-based pasta sauces. I find that it perfectly highlights all the flavors within the sauce. Of course, if you don’t use or drink vodka, you can easily just use water or broth. Once the sauce is in the pan, add a little cream and fresh baby spinach. Let that simmer over low heat while you cook the tortellini. For the tortellini, I used a cheese tortellini from Whole Foods, but use any kind of tortellini flavor you love. Then toss the pasta with the sauce, add fresh parmesan cheese, and that’s that. Simple. Simple.
But wait, there is one extra special touch.
Serve this cheesy tortellini up with a ball of fresh burrata cheese. It adds a layer of creaminess to each and every bowl of pasta and it’s delicious with a sprinkling of fresh basil. Yummm. And super easy. Perfect for just about any night of the week. And for me personally, I’m actually beyond excited to make this again today on Instagram stories. It feels like an exciting Wednesday night dinner. Cannot wait!
Looking for more quick pasta dinner? Here are a few to try: Spicy Pesto Pasta Alla Vodka Crispy Roasted Cauliflower with Creamy Pesto Pasta Roasted Broccoli Pasta Carbonara with Crispy Prosciutto and Whipped Ricotta Lastly, if you make this Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Tortellini, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
