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Tortellini Caprese with Pesto

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time8 minutes
Course: Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: caprese, mozzarella, pesto, Tomatoes, tortellini
Servings: 2

Equipment

  • Food processor

Ingredients

Pesto

  • 1 bunch basil washed and leaves stripped from stems (discard stems)
  • ⅓ cup Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese grated or finely shredded
  • 2-3 garlic cloves peeled and roughly chopped
  • ½ tsp lemon zest or more to taste
  • ¼ - ½ cup olive oil start with 1/4 cup and add more as needed
  • 1-2 tsp lemon juice to taste
  • salt and pepper to taste

Tortellini

  • 1 9 oz package of cheese or spinach tortellini
  • 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes cut in halves or quarters
  • 4 oz fresh mozzarella cheese pearls, or cut into small pieces
  • ⅓ cup prepared pesto recipe above, or can use store bought
  • ¼ cup pasta water optional, if necessary
  • Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese grated or finely shredded
  • fresh basil leaves julienned, for garnish

Instructions

Pesto

  • Pull all the leaves off your basil stems and roughly chop the garlic. (Chopping the garlic is not entirely necessary, but I like to give it a head start so there's no large pieces left.)
  • Put the basil, cheese, garlic and lemon zest in your food processor. Pulse a few times until finely chopped. Scrape down the bowl.
  • Set the speed to low and drizzle in ¼ cup of olive oil. Process for about 20 seconds. Scrape down the bowl and check the consistency, and add more oil if needed.
  • Scrape down the sides and add a generous pinch of salt, some pepper, and a 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Pulse this together and taste. Keep adding and pulsing until you like the consistency and the way it tastes.

Tortellini

  • Prepare tortellini according to package directions. (For the Buitoni tortellini, I check it two minutes early and it is often done.)
  • Drain tortellini, reserving ¼ cup of pasta water. Return tortellini to pot it was cooked in.
  • Add tomatoes, ¼ cup pesto, mozzarella balls and a little pepper and salt. Stir gently to combine. Add a little more pesto and a tablespoon or two of the reserved pasta water if needed.
  • Gently stir in julienned basil leaves. Taste and add more salt and pepper to taste.
  • Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with cheese and additional basil leaves if desired.

Notes

The pesto recipe makes about 1/2 to 1 cup of pesto. I find that 1/2 cup of pesto is enough to cover a big pot of pasta - so you may have some left over. It freezes very well! You can either freeze it in one lump, or freeze it in plastic bags or an ice cube tray to portion it out for future meals.