Looking for something fun and festive to make this week or even for Christmas Eve? This Christmas Tortellini would totally do the trick. It’s pretty quick and simple to put together and will be adored by your whole family.
Everyone here ate it, which is really saying something considering my picky 5 year old. But what’s not to love about pasta smothered in two sauces and topped with cheese?
The holidays can be so crazy and busy and stressful. I’ve been trying my best to slow down a bit this year and give myself a little grace. The big, huge cookie platters aren’t happening this year. And I’m ok with that.
The Christmas cards and letter got sent out but it wasn’t the greatest yearly update ever. But they got the gist and that was good enough. Sometimes we just need to simplify to keep from going crazy.
So that’s what I did. And man it feels good. Don’t let Pinterest make you feel bad. Giving Pinterest a big screw you is good for the soul sometimes.
This baked tortellini is actually a good Pinterest fake-out though. If you serve this it will be festive and fancy and appear well thought out. Your people will think you have all your crap together.
But it takes very little effort and ingredients to whip up. But after they eat, go ahead and tell them how easy it was. Don’t feel like you have to lie to your people so they think you have it all together. They get it.
We’ve deemed this dish Christmas Tortellini because it’s filled with festive greens and red. Tri-color tortellini (red, green and white) is tossed with a simple, homemade spinach alfredo sauce then topped with jarred marinara, shredded mozzarella and baked to golden perfection.
I prefer homemade alfredo sauce but you could use a jarred sauce to make it even easier. Seriously, look at the creamy goodness.
Go ahead. Make it. You know you want to.
Christmas Tortellini
Ingredients
- 1 19 oz. bag tri-colored cheese tortellini
- 6 Tbsp. butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 1/3 cups shredded parmesan cheese
- 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 5 oz. frozen spinach, thawed
- 1 1/2 cups spaghetti or marinara sauce
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook tortellini according to the package directions. Meanwhile make the alfredo sauce. Heat a skillet over medium low heat. Add butter and garlic to the skillet. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until softened and fragrant. Add heavy cream and cook until it starts to bubble around the edges. Remove from heat and stir in parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
- Squeeze all the excess liquid out of the spinach then stir into the alfredo sauce.
- Dump half of the cooked tortellini into a 9×9 baking pan. Top with the spinach alfredo sauce. Add remaining tortellini then top with the spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake until cheese is melted and bubbly, about 10 minutes.
December 19, 2019 at 11:54 am
What size baking dish did you use for this recipe?
December 20, 2019 at 9:26 am
Hi Lori! So sorry I missed adding that to the recipe. A 9×9 pan is what I would recommend using. I’ll be sure to update the recipe to state that as well. Thanks for alerting me to the issue.
December 21, 2019 at 10:58 am
Thank you for your reply! Happy holidays…
December 21, 2019 at 11:10 am
One other quick note: I see that the recipe has changed slightly since I originally found it; you may want to know that the mozzarella has disappeared from the ingredients list but is still included in the recipe directions.
December 24, 2019 at 8:44 am
Oh my goodness, I’m falling apart Lori. I accidentally deleted the whole recipe when I was updating and had to retype the whole thing. The holiday brain is real. Thank you again.