Tortellini Pesto Salad
This simple tortellini pesto salad is a quick prep pasta salad that starts with an amazing basil pesto and is tossed with cheese tortellini, veggies, sun-dried tomatoes and more cheese! It comes together in less than 30 minutes and is simple to vary and customize. This will be the picnic must make for years to come!
Servings: 8
Ingredients
PESTO INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups fresh basil packed, stems removed
- 1-2 garlic cloves whole or miced
- 2 Tbsp pine nuts or walnuts toasted if desired
- juice of one lemon
- ½ - ⅔ extra virgin olive oil
- ⅓ cup parmesan cheese grated
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
SALAD INGREDIENTS
- 20 oz. cheese tortellini
- 2-3 handfuls baby spinach chopped
- 10 oz grape or cherry tomatoes halved
- 8 oz. mozzarella pearls
- ½- ⅔ cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped in Italian herbs, the kind in oil
- More chopped basil for garnish
Instructions
- Cook the tortellini according to package instructions until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water to keep it from cooking any longer. Set aside.
- Combine pesto ingredients in a food processor (starting with ½ cup of olive oil, you can add more to thin it out). Process until smooth, but some slight graininess remains to add texture. Thin it out with the remaining olive oil to get a bit of a pourable pesto.
- Toss the tortellini with about ¾ of the pesto to allow it to coat well. If this mixture seems to dry or thick, add an extra drizzle of olive oil.
- Add the remaining salad ingredients to the tortellini and and toss well. Add more pesto as desired, or if serving at a later time, reserve it until just before sering.
- Chill until ready to serve and garnish with chopped basil.
Notes
Storage: Store this tortellini pesto pasta salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days. You can prep it a day in advance if planning to serve it at a gathering. Before serving, allow it to sit out for about 10-15 minutes for the olive oil in the pesto to become liquid again. Toss the salad with extra pesto or an extra drizzle of olive oil just before serving.
Toast your pine nuts! This only takes a minute or two, but adds so much more to your pesto. Allow them to cool before adding to the pesto by lining them on parchment for about 10-15 minutes.
To make this nut free, use pepitas (pumpkin seeds removed from shells). Toast them as well for a great pesto. You can also omit the nuts completely and adjust the olive oil to use about 1-2 tablespoons less.
To prep this salad a day in advance, toss all of the ingredients together, reserving about 1/4 of the pesto to toss in just before serving. An extra drizzle of olive oil when serving is great as well.
Nutrition
Calories: 351kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 552mg | Potassium: 354mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 607IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 275mg | Iron: 3mg