Creamy Tomato Basil Tortellini (EASY)

August 7, 2024
|In Z3.5-Entrees
|By PZPearl
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Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3.5 (ZReboot 3.5) recipe.

This is, hands down, my favorite new dish in 2024.  Yes, it’s a pasta dish but you can splurge once in awhile as long as you don’t eat too much of the pasta.  The trick with this one is to get a lot of satisfaction out of the zucchini, the lovely tomato sauce and the basil.  I only eat 6 or 7 tortellini blobs and I cut them in half as I eat them.  That makes them last longer and you feel like you got to eat more of them.

Servings: Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

  • 9 oz package of cheese tortellini, refrigerated (the fresh kind).  Truthfully you could use other flavors of tortellini for this dish too. I just have stuck to the cheese so far.
  • 2 cups of zucchini chunks.  Mine are about ½” square. I like the bite.
  • 2 cups of juicy tomatoes, chopped
  • ½ cup of basil, sliced julienne-style (narrow strips)
  • ¼ cup of cream
  • 2 Tbs of sour cream.  My tablespoons are rather heaping
  • ¼ cup of mozzarella cheese. Shreds. I use the “melty” one
  • 2 Tbl of olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced.  I use jar garlic.
  • Grated sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Prep the veggies and heat a large sauté pan to medium-high.

Cook the chopped tomatoes with the olive oil in the pan for 2 – 3 minutes.  It will cook down and you end up with a chunky tomato sauce.  Stir as it cooks.

I cook my tortellini in a pot of boiling water.  Just follow the directions on the package and then drain.  Each brand specifies different cooking times so follow their lead.

In the pan with the tomatoes, add the zucchini and garlic.  Add the cream and the sour cream.  This will become your creamy sauce.  Stir and cook until zucchini is cooked to your liking. I like mine to still have some bite so this only takes a few minutes.  Stir in your drained tortellini.

After 1 – 2 minutes add the mozzarella and the basil. Stir it all up.  Taste test and add the sea salt and pepper to your liking.

Serve immediately.  This is nice with a Caesar salad.  I just use a kit bag these days and it works out great.

Enjoy!

Cheers,