15 Minute Spinach Pesto Tortellini Salad
Learn how to put together a 15 minute tortellini salad tossed with spinach pesto made from scratch! This is my favorite salad to bring to summer picnics, potlucks, barbecues, and get togethers!
Servings: 8 -12 servings
Ingredients
Spinach + Walnut Pesto:
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach
- 1 cup basil
- ½ cup California Walnuts
- 2 cloves fresh garlic
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoon olive oil
- salt to taste
Tortellini Salad:
- 20 ounces cheese tortellini see notes
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes
- 8-10 ounces of mozzarella cheese cubes or balls
- parmesan cheese basil for garnishing
Instructions
Pasta Salad:
- Heat a large pot of water and cook the cheese tortellini to package directions. I like to prepare the pesto while the pasta is boiling to save a little time.
- Toss the pasta with ½ the pesto, tomatoes, mozzarella, and a handful of parmesan cheese. Adjust with additional pesto to preference. I find I needed all of the pesto for the recipe. Sometimes I like to add in another couple tablespoons of olive oil to help things blend together better. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with chopped basil before serving!
Pesto:
- Add all the ingredients for the pesto except the olive oil to a food processor. Pulse the food processor 5-10 times or until the ingredients breakdown. Stream in ½ cup of olive oil from the top while you continue to pulse. Stop the food processor and scrape down the sides. If the pesto is too thick, use the remaining 2 tablespoon of olive oil. I find I need it sometimes when I pack the cups of spinach full. Season the pesto with ¼ teaspoon of salt, and adjust to preference.
Notes
- cheese tortellini is usually found in the refrigerated food section of most grocery stores.
- This is one of those salad that you can easily make ahead of time. You can toss the salad together or layer it as follows --> pesto --> tortellini --> mozzarella --> tomatoes --> parmesan --> basil. Toss the salad with a few additional tablespoons of olive oil as the pesto with thicken a bit as it sits.
- Any leftover pesto can be kept in a small, airtight container topped with a thin layer of olive oil for up to 5 days. This keeps the pesto from browning too much.
