Spinach & Cheese Tortellini

Did the day just get away from you? Are you looking for a dinner that falls into the “Semi-Homemade” category? Still want an amazing flavorful dish with minimal effort? I have got the recipe for you with my Spinach & Cheese Tortellini. With the help of some store bought cheese tortellini, you dinner is not far away! The bacon pan sauce takes roughly the same amount of time to make as the tortellini takes – making the longest part of the preparation of this meal boiling the water.

Now you may have read this recipe and thought – wait you never cooked the spinach. You are right, I sure didn’t. I, personally, do not like spinach that has been really cooked down (nor does my family). By just adding the fresh spinach to the hot tortellini and then pouring the hot pan sauce over the top, you get the just right amount of wilted to not be crispy anymore but not go full slimy.

If you wanted to change this recipe to a vegetarian option – you could omit the bacon. And instead just add two tablespoons of butter to the saute pan over medium heat, omit step two and go on to step four to make the sauce. Conversely, if you wanted to add more meat to this dish, you could use a tortellini that has a sausage or chicken in it instead of the plain cheese. I try to always have cheese tortellini in my freezer. It is a great back-up plan for dinner because it can be cooked frozen, or you can make it and cool it for a pasta salad – very versatile.

Since this is a pretty filling dish, I only added a piece of baguette with butter on the side. A salad would be nice with it or maybe some roasted veggies would work too. With this being such a simple and semi-homemade sort of last minute dish – you may have to just serve it up with the good only buttered garlic sandwich bread!

Now Let’s Get Cookin’!

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Spinach & Cheese Tortellini

A quick and hearty weeknight meal with cheese tortellini, bacon and spinach in a simple pan sauce

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword bacon, pan gravy, Parmesan, spinach, tortellini

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1 20oz pkg Cheese Tortellini refrigerated pasta
• 8 slices Bacon cut into ½ pieces
• 4 Garlic Cloves
• 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1 tsp Basil
• 2 tbsp Flour
• 2 cups Chicken Broth
• 2 cup Fresh Spinach rough cut
• 6 oz Shaved Parmesan

Instructions

• Start water boiling for tortellini.
• In a large saute pan over medium high heat, add bacon. Cook until crispy and remove to a paper towel covered plate. Reserve 3 tbsp of bacon grease.
• Add tortellini to boiling water and cook as directed on package. Drain in colander and rinse with cool water before returning to pot (away from heat).
• Reduce heat on saute pan to medium. Add garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Then whisk in flour and cook for 3 minutes. Next add basil and Italian seasoning and whisk together. Whisk in chicken broth and let cook for 2 minutes.
• Add fresh spinach, bacon, half of shaved parmesan and pan sauce to pot with tortellini. Gently stir to combine. Serve with sprinkle of remaining parmesan.