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This Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Tortellini is the best any night of the week family dinner. We’re taking tortellini and making it even better, with a rich and creamy roasted red pepper sauce and fresh burrata cheese. Each cute little tortellini has delicious, cozy winter flavors that melt in your mouth. It’s the creamiest bowl of cheese tortellini that’s fancy enough for the weekend, but easy enough to make any night of the week. And most importantly, it’s delicious!

overhead photo of Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Tortellini

Currently, I’m in a rotation of four food groups, Asian, Indian, Mexican, and then every once in a while…a random Italian recipe gets thrown into the mix.

I’m not sure what’s going on with my family, but we’ve all been wanting a good amount of Asian and especially Indian-inspired recipes. In fact, as I type this, I have golden rice and curry cooking away on the stove for yet another family dinner. Everyone has really taken a liking to dishes with lots of flavor and spice.

Honestly, my brothers have all been surprising me with what they’ve been requesting. They’ve really come such a long way from their chicken and rice days. I’ve found I’m actually enjoying cooking for everyone these days. It’s a lot of work, but we don’t always get to be together. So I’m taking advantage of this time and testing out as many recipes as I can on these guys. The one thing about brothers is that they’ll always tell it to you like it is…

If they love something, they really LOVE it.

And if something is not that great, I’m going to hear about it. Not in a mean way, but in a, “yeah, that wasn’t my favorite” kind of way.

prep photo of roasted red peppers

Anyway, in an effort to switch things up a bit, I thought I’d make some easy Italian style pasta.

Originally this was just going to be a roasted red pepper pasta, because the other two things I’m currently obsessed with are red peppers and red Fresno peppers. But then I opened the fridge and saw one lingering box of cheese tortellini. I decided that while roasted red pepper pasta sounded good, roasted red pepper cheese tortellini sound even better.

And that’s how I finally came to make the simplest cheesy, red pepper tortellini.

prep photo of roasted red pepper sauce

Here are the quick details.

To give the sauce a bit of extra flavor, I decided to cook up the shallots and garlic in a little olive oil before pureeing them with the roasted red peppers. Pureeing the shallots, garlic, and peppers will leave you with a silky smooth red pepper sauce.

Once you have the sauce made, this comes together in minutes. You’ll want to cook up a little tomato paste, add a splash of vodka, then stir in the red pepper sauce. For the vodka, I pretty much always add a splash to most of my tomato-based pasta sauces. I find that it perfectly highlights all the flavors within the sauce. Of course, if you don’t use or drink vodka, you can easily just use water or broth.

Once the sauce is in the pan, add a little cream and fresh baby spinach. Let that simmer over low heat while you cook the tortellini.

For the tortellini, I used a cheese tortellini from Whole Foods, but use any kind of tortellini flavor you love.

Then toss the pasta with the sauce, add fresh parmesan cheese, and that’s that. Simple. Simple.

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Tortellini in skillet

But wait, there is one extra special touch.

Serve this cheesy tortellini up with a ball of fresh burrata cheese. It adds a layer of creaminess to each and every bowl of pasta and it’s delicious with a sprinkling of fresh basil.

Yummm. And super easy. Perfect for just about any night of the week. And for me personally, I’m actually beyond excited to make this again today on Instagram stories. It feels like an exciting Wednesday night dinner.

Cannot wait!

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Tortellini | halfbakedharvest.com

Looking for more quick pasta dinner? Here are a few to try:

Spicy Pesto Pasta Alla Vodka

Crispy Roasted Cauliflower with Creamy Pesto Pasta

Roasted Broccoli Pasta Carbonara with Crispy Prosciutto and Whipped Ricotta

Lastly, if you make this Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Tortellini, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Tortellini

Author: Tieghan Gerard
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 573 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

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Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

Instructions

  • 1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for cooking the tortellini. Now add the red peppers to a food processor or blender.
    2. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and garlic. Cook until the shallots begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the mix to the food processor or blender with the red peppers. Puree until smooth.
    3. Set the same skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the tomato paste, oregano, and red pepper flakes, cook 4 minutes, until thickened. Stir in the vodka, cook another 2 minutes. Stir in the red pepper sauce, cream, parmesan, spinach, and basil. Season with salt and pepper.
    4. Cook the tortellini according to package directions until al dente. Drain, then toss with the red pepper sauce.
    5. Divide the tortellini between plates and top with burrata and fresh basil. Eat and enjoy immediately.
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This post was originally published on January 27, 2021
3.92 from 806 votes (723 ratings without comment)

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Comments

  2. 5 stars
    SO DELICIOUS and easy to make. My stores did not have fresh basil so I put a small spoonful of pesto on top before serving..

    Reply

    1. Hey Dani,
      It is yes, fresh mozzarella is a great substitute to use if you are unable to fine it. I hope you love the pasta, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan

      Reply

  4. 5 stars
    I made this on Wednesday night and we all loved it! My husband bought the small quantity of the cheese tortellini which meant we did have very much leftover. My persnickety youngest daughter loved this and used the extra sauce with regular pasta as leftovers for lunch yesterday. I’ll definitely be making this again very soon (with the larger quantity of cheese tortellini)!

    Reply

  5. So delicious! Definitely recommend it and you don’t need to add burrata! It’s so amazing definitely will be in rotation for meals at our house!!

    Reply

  6. I made this tonight !! It was delicious !!! Such a perfect warm winter pasta and easy and quick too ! My 3 kids enjoyed as well!

    Reply

  7. 5 stars
    Super tasty! I️ used sausage tortellini and added thinly sliced and sautéed red bell peppers for a little more excitement.

    Reply

    1. Hey Heidi,
      Yes, whole milk will work just fine. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan

      Reply

  9. 5 stars
    This looks amazing, making this weekend for sure! We love your vodka sauce, best ever. We would love to include a protein. What would you suggest and how could we incorporate it? Thanks for all your tasty recipes, always waiting for the next one!

    Reply

    1. Hey Courtney,
      I think a spicy Italian sausage would work well here. You could sauté it at the beginning of the recipe, set aside, and then add back in at the end. I hope you love the dish! xTieghan

      Reply

  10. Definitely making this weekend! Absolutely love your vodka sauce, our favorite. We would like to add in a protein, what would you suggest and how would you best incorporate it? Thanks again for all your amazing recipes!

    Reply

    1. Hey Courtney,
      Thanks so much! I would add some ground spicy Italian sausage! I hope you love the recipe:) xTieghan

      Reply

  12. I made this for dinner last night and it was delicious! Burrata on top was a perfect compliment to the heat in the sauce. Loved. Thank you!

    Reply

  14. Everything we make of yours has been delicious. For this recipe, How much of the Fresno peppers do you use and do they add spice? I’ve never used them before. You added them in the video but I don’t see them in the recipe.
    Thank you!

    Reply

    1. Hey Debbis,
      Thank you so much! I just use one Fresno pepper for heat, but if you can totally leave it out too. I hope you enjoy the recipe. Let me know how it turns out! xTieghan

      Reply

  15. I like the simplicity of this dish and will make it soon. I have to depend on weekly grocery delivery so I will put the ingredients on my next list. I like the rustic serving bowl. Where did you find it?

    Reply

    1. Hey Loren,
      Thanks so much! I really hope you love the recipe. So sorry, I do not have a link for this bowl! xTieghan

      Reply