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This Baked Tortellini Is My Weakness Right Now.
I started making this as a cozy weekend moment – we’re having a friend over for dinner, we’re ready to tuck in at home, we just want a big pan of carby delight to dive into with butter-soaked crispity pieces of garlic bread.
And then it moved into, like, I can’t wait till the weekend for that so let’s make that again on Tuesday night for dinner.
And now it’s just in the permanent repertoire! Unlike the AFC, it’s not really a nightly situation – this guy is heavy and rich and unapologetically extra, and once a week is about all I can handle. So I save it for a night when I am extra hungry and looking for a comfort food hug, and it delivers every time.
I loosely based this around one of my favorite soups of all time – Ang’s Tortellini Soup. But since it’s already pretty heavy with the cheese on top, I don’t think it needs the cream in there. That said, follow your heart. If you’re wanting some creaminess or a few dollops of garlic herb Rondele in there (a weirdly specific vision I’ve had), please don’t deny yourself this joy.
And DO NOT SKIP the garlic bread – I know it’s an extra step, and you can buy it if you must! But dunking a chunk of garlic bread into that skillet and building a perfect bite with sauce, bread, and a little piece of cheesy tortellini is an elite experience that I don’t want you to miss out on.
Welcome To My House! Come Make This Baked Tortellini With Me.
1
Brown Your Sausage.
I like to let it sit for a minute so it gets *actually* crisped and browned on the outside.
2
Chop and Sauté Your Veggies.
I am lazy so I did my veggies in the food processor into a very fine mince. But you can also be proper and chop them.
Sausage gets cooked, veggies get cooked, then they both went back in together. Check out the browning on the sausage. YUMMO!
3
Add Tortellini, Etc.
Here goes the sauce and tortellini…
And here comes the spinach. We’re going to simmer.
At this point I’ve made a very nice little mess. Typical.
4
Bake that Baby Up Under a Cheese Blankie.
I use shredded mozz and grated parm! Plus a bit of parsley for beauty.
5
Eat This With Garlic Bread. Please. Yum.
It’s very carb-on-carb and it’s SO delicious. Chunks of garlic bread are the perfect vehicle to scoop up that flavorful tomatoey, sausagey sauce plus a bite or two of tortellini. OMG I’m drooling.
Baked Tortellini with Sausage
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 6+ servings 1x
Description
Baked tortellini in a flavorful sausage tomato sauce, lots of celery, onion, garlic, and carrots, some fennel, and a nice little blanket of cheese on top.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Baked Tortellini:
- 1 tablespoon avocado or olive oil
- 1 lb. ground Italian sausage (I use a mild one for my kids, but spicy would be delicious)
- 2–3 carrots, chopped
- 2–3 stalks of celery, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, minced
- 3 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
- 1 28–ounce jar of tomato sauce OR a can of San Marzano tomatoes
- 10–15 ounces of refrigerated cheese tortellini
- 1–2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups baby spinach, torn
To Go On Top:
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- finely chopped parsley
Instructions
- Brown the sausage: Heat a very large oven-safe skillet over medium high heat. Add the oil and the sausage; break apart with a wooden spoon and brown until it’s got some nice color. Transfer to a bowl and drain out any of the oil that you don’t want (I usually drain off about a tablespoon, leaving a tablespoon in the pan).
- Sauté the veggies: If you’ve got some browning on the bottom of your pan – great. Add the veggies and they should start to pull up some of that yummy brown flavor. Add the fennel seeds. Cook until the veggies are fragrant and soft – you can add a bit of salt or oil if you’re feeling chefy. Then add the sausage back in.
- Add everything else: Add your tomato sauce, your tortellini, and 1 cup of broth. The pan will be full. Let it come to a low simmer and cook for 5 minutes or so to cook the tortellini. If you need more broth in order to get enough liquid to cook the tortellini, go ahead and add it. Sometimes I just pop a lid on and leave it for a while on low heat.
- Spinach and cheese: Give it a taste – if you used canned tomatoes instead of a jar of sauce, it will probably need some salt. Add the spinach and stir it in until it wilts. Top the whole thing with the mozzarella cheese and pop it into the oven at 375 for 8-10 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and melty.
- Finish: Sprinkle some grated parm on top along with some chopped parsley, and dunk into that baby with some chunks of garlic bread. SO GOOD.
Notes
Package sizes for tortellini range between 10-20 ounces, and the amount of tortellini you add here can be dependent on your pan size – I can never fit a full 20, but sometimes I feel like I can fit a little more than 10? Basically… it’s flexible. Grab a package of tortellini and fit what you can in there.
In the photos above, I’m using a 3 quart All Clad sauté pan. If you have doubts about the size of your pan being big enough, I would suggest just sizing up into a Dutch oven or similar so you don’t run out of room!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
Frequently Asked Questions For Baked Tortellini
Use a plant-based ground sausage in place of the regular Italian sausage to make this meatless – I really enjoy the Impossible Sausage. You could also just omit the Italian sausage, but be sure to add a bit more fennel, more salt, and maybe even some Italian seasoning or red pepper flakes to compensate for the flavor.
I prefer fresh / refrigerated tortellini and I really love the Rana cheese tortellini and the Good and Gather cheese tortellini, both found at Target. I normally love Trader Joe’s… buuut their cheese tortellini is the only brand I’ve tried that I don’t super love. I think it’s something about the shape and the texture that just doesn’t do it for me.
I enjoy this with both jarred tomato sauce and also just a can of whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes that I smash in the pan. If you’re using a store bought sauce, I’ve found that Rao’s can be a bit oily here – there’s already a lot of fat from the sausage, the cheese, etc. so, while Rao’s is very popular and very yummy, I would opt for something with slightly less oil. I’ve been using Carbone’s sauce lately and really enjoying it, and of course, we love our DeLallo sauces!
I enjoy the leftovers for 1-2 days. The tortellini will absorb liquid as it sits in the fridge so it will get a bit more mushy and there will be less of a sauce. But it’s still quite delicious and sometimes I just eat it cold out of the fridge.
Some Friends For Baked Tortellini
House Favorite Garlic Bread (do not skip, it’s a must)
Liz’s Bistro Salad (this would be SO good for a dinner party)
