❤️ About This Pesto Tortellini Salad Recipe
This pesto tortellini salad has a brilliant fresh flavor from homemade spinach pesto (with basil) tossed with fresh cherry tomatoes and mozzarella balls. It’s so good, you’ll be adding this to your summer staples.
It’s fresh, light and loaded with herby, vibrant pesto. Quick to make: It takes only 20 minutes (from making pesto to a ready salad). Or it can take just 10 minutes if you’ve pesto ready or use a store-bought one. It’s healthy and super simple to make. It is perfect for picnics or summer gatherings. Make this tortellini salad ahead of time as meal prep and enjoy it as a quick lunch.
🧾 Ingredient Notes
Here is the pic of the ingredients to make homemade spinach basil pesto.
Baby spinach & Basil: Use fresh ones. Frozen spinach or dried basil won’t work here. Garlic: Use fresh garlic or use readymade minced garlic. Walnuts: It adds a nice nutty flavor. Another classic option is to use pine nuts. Lemon juice: Again use freshly squeezed lemon juice. It’s much better than bottled lemon juice. Olive oil: Extra virgin olive oil should be used while making any pesto as it has a mild flavor. Plus, pesto is eaten raw, and fresh so extra virgin should be used. Parmesan cheese: As being vegetarian, I only buy vegetarian parmesan cheese and not the original Parmigiano Reggiano that has rennet.
Here is the pic of the ingredients you’ll need to make pesto tortellini salad.
Tortellini: I prefer to use fresh cheese tortellini from the refrigerated section of the grocery store. You can use frozen cheese tortellini as well. Cook as per the package instructions. Cherry or Grape Tomatoes: Highly recommend using cheery or grape tomatoes as these baby tomatoes are sweeter and more crisp. Plus, they don’t leave excess juice so perfect to toss into salads. Fresh pearl mozzarella cheese: These mini mozzarella balls are perfect for this pasta salad. Drain the liquid, slice them in half or keep them whole and toss them into the pasta salad. The package is often labeled as Fresh mozzarella pearls. Pine nuts: Toasted pine nuts add some crunch and nutty flavor.
👩🍳 How To Make Pesto Tortellini Salad?
Make Spinach Basil Pesto: Make Tortellini Salad: Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and then add a generous pinch of salt. Add tortellini and cook as per the package instruction or until al dente. Drain the water, toss the pasta in a tablespoon of olive oil and let them cool down.
💭 Expert Tips For Tortellini Salad
Always add salt once the water comes to a boil. Salted water takes longer to come to a boil. Cook tortellini until al dente meaning slightly underdone (toothsome bite). The remaining cooking is done while the pasta is cooling down and they become perfectly soft. Don’t forget to toss the cooked tortellini pasta in some olive oil to prevent them from sticking to each other. Toasting pine nuts: Dry roast them in a pan on medium-low heat until lightly brown and aromatic. Or toast them in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 5 minutes on a baking sheet in a single layer. You can use store-bought pesto instead of making it at home. Add pesto to room temperature or cold pasta to retain pesto’s vibrant green color. Though you can add it to warm tortellini, the pesto will get cooked slightly and result in the loss of that vibrant color. Either way, it tastes good.
Did you try this pesto tortellini salad recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Leave a review in the comment section below.
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