Giangi's Kitchen

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Don’t you love when a recipe is easy, takes less than 10 minutes to put together, and tastes delicious? I sure do.  And when it involves only four ingredients, is even better. Let me introduce you to Mascarpone Tortellini.

A nothing to it dish, that is perfect for a school night, an impromptu dinner with friends.

For this dish, I selected  Barilla dry Cheese and Spinach Tortellini is the perfect bite-size for the little one. Bursting with flavor. Added some sweet peas, you know how I feel about peas, I love them, therefore, any occasion to incorporate them into a dish is a good one to enjoy them.

Of course, you can use fresh tortellini from the deli counter. They work beautifully with this dish.

The mascarpone is such a versatile cheese. From a pasta dinner to a dessert plate, it always enhances your dish.

In this dish, I also use parmesan cheese, which is a great counter-balance to the mascarpone and offers it a burst of added flavor.

My personal choice, I do not mix the parmesan cheese with the peas and mascarpone sauce. I do not like to fight with my food while I try to fold in the sauce. Because the parmesan melts it makes it harder to stir the pasta properly.

However, grated over the top at serving time, it is a lot more pleasant.

What is Mascarpone?

Mascarpone is a cheese originally from Italy. One of the most versatile cheeses in my book. Can go from savory pasta to sweet dessert delight.

Mascarpone is made of triple-creme cheese made from fresh cream.  Fresh milk of cows that have been grazing on pastures filled with fresh herbs, giving it that rich flavor.

What can you substitute mascarpone with? 

Cream cheese, ricotta cheese, creme fraiche, and full-fat Greek yogurt are great substitutions.

The texture and flavor will be mildly different than the mascarpone, but similar enough not to change the recipe.

Seeing that mascarpone is a rich cheese, you may want to add a tablespoon of heavy whipping cream to either the ricotta or cream cheese.

TIPS

• This recipe requires canned peas, of course, you can substitute with frozen peas. However, let them cook a bit longer with the butter over medium heat. They need to be tender to the bite but not mushy.
• Always reserve a cup of cooking water before draining the pasta. It contains all the starches from the pasta, and if your sauce is a bit on the dry sauce, the cooking water will come in handy to soften the sauce.
• Grate an abundant amount of parmesan cheese over the whole dish. When it melts it gives such a rich flavor to this simple dish.
• You can substitute the tortellini with fettuccine, or linguini pasta.

Do you like this recipe? 

Here are a couple more that you may want to try as well.

Ink Pasta with Shrimps, Tomatoes and Garlic

Orzo with Basil Butter, Peppers, Tomatoes

Farfalle with Peas, Ham and Cream

Originally published on March 10, 2020, updated on November 8, 2021