Creamy Tortellini with Peas Asparagus and Bacon
Delicious creamy tortellini dish made comforting with Parmesan cream sauce and crispy bacon and it’s also loaded with peas and asparagus. This is an easy dinner that will only take about 30 minutes to prepare.
Creamy Tortellini Recipe
Want a super easy dinner that’s ready in 30 minutes?
Oh, why would I even ask… Easy and quick is what everyone is after when it comes to weeknight dinners. Or, if your husband calls after he gets out of work, telling you that he didn’t get a chance to eat and he’s starving. Then, you realize that you didn’t really plan to cook today and you need to whip up something fast for the hungry husband. The same hungry husband that, ironically, manages a restaurant and is coming home hungry.
This isn’t based on a true story or anything (looks away whistling). The moral of the story is that this is a perfect dish to make when you only have 30 minutes and you need a delicious, comforting dish to knock some socks off some hungry tummies.
Some More Tortellini Recipes:
Extra Cheese Lemon Pasta and Asparagus
Bacon Asparagus Pasta Carbonara
Ravioli with Creamy Red Pepper Sauce
Frequently Asked Questions:
Heavy whipping cream is the best choice for rich and creamy sauce. If you would like to substitute it because of the availability, you can use half and half but remember that it is thinner. So the sauce with not be as rich or as thick.
If you want to substitute because of a lactose intolerance or another dairy allergy issue, there are a few things on the market. I found that lactose free half and half works as a great substitution. The sauce is not as rich but it still works veery well. Check your store for the brands available, but the one I use is Organic Valley.
As far a non-dairy substitution, there are some dairy free heavy whipping cream options. I have tried Silk and Country Crock and those are okay, but work better for desserts as whipped cream rather than in sauces.
Absolutely! You can use any denser veggies you love. Try veggies like carrots (sliced), green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms, and onions.
Of course! If you like your dish very saucy, you can doble (or 1 1/2) the amount of cream and parmesan cheese. Don’t forget to add a little more seasoning (salt and pepper) as well.
You can use some other cheeses in addition to parmesan or instead of. Try using Pecorino Romano, Romano, Manchego, Asiago, and other hard, aged cheeses. Just remember, they all have slightly or very different flavors. Some are stronger or saltier. So make sure to taste it first.
Creamy Spring Tortellini with Peas Asparagus and Bacon
Ingredients
- 9 oz three cheese tortellini
- 1/2 small yellow onion thinly sliced
- 3/4 cup peas you can use frozen peas
- 1 cup chopped asparagus
- 2 lg garlic cloves
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
- Salt
- Fresh cracked black pepper
- .25 lb crispy slices of bacon (5-6 slices)
- Oil for cooking
Instructions
- Cook tortellini according to the package instructions, drain and set aside.
- Preheat a cooking pan over medium heat and add a couple of tablespoons of oil.
- Add onions and saute until transparent.
- Add peas and asparagus. Saute until asparagus starts to soften. Press in garlic and season with some salt and pepper. Mix well and cook veggies for about 5 more minutes.
- Pour in heavy cream while stirring. Add shaved Parmesan cheese and stir until cheese is melted. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
- Stir in tortellini until completely mixed in and cook for a couple of minutes.
- Chop crispy cooked bacon and stir it in right before taking the pan off heat.
- Serve and enjoy.
Video
Nutrition
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
My sauce came out a smidge clumpy. I didn’t have Have cream on hand so found a reference to making it w addt butter and half & half. Do you think that was the problem or should i have made the sauce separate and then added to dish?
Overall, it was lovely. I added mushrooms.
Yes, I would cook the sauce separately it is easier to get smooth that way. You can use half and half but extra butter isn’t necessary, if using half and half you may need a little extra flour
Looks delicious! Can you serve it room temperature or chilled?
Hi Marilyn,
This is made with a cream sauce so I wouldn’t serve it at room tempature or cold, it will be best served right after cooking warm. Hope you still try it!
Made this tonight and it was DELICIOUS!!! I was looking for something exactly like this as I had almost the same ingredients. And it was sooooo easy!!! Along with the bacon I added prosciutto which I warmed and toasted just a bit before cooking the onions. I didn’t have asparagus but had some blanched green beans which I used instead. It was a big hit! Thank you!!
Hi Beverly,
That sounds so good! I love prosciutto and I am sure it went very well with this dish! I am so pleased you were able to make the recipe your own! Thanks for stopping by to tell me about it. 🙂
What I can use instead of whipping cream
Hi! I’m all out of Parmesan and was thinking of substituting with Romano cheese. I was just curious if anyone has tried this, or if you thought it would work well. I’ve made this recipe a Number of times and love it and just don’t want to mess it up!
Hi Sara,
Yes, you could use Romano cheese the flavor of Parmesan is just stronger but I still think it will taste really good. I am so happy to hear you love this recipe! Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
I made this for dinner tonight. It was AWESOME! I didn’t have heavy cream so I just made a roux and added it in with 2% milk. Thickened up nicely once it came up to heat.
Hi, Jessica! I am so glad you liked it! 🙂
Easy and delicious. I had all the ingredients on hand which is a plus during the Covid-19 shelter in place orders!
Hi Barb,
So glad you liked it, stay safe!
I added chicken, extra cream and cheese. It was wonderful!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you, Anni!
What could you use instead of heavy whipping cream?? Thanks
Hi Linda,
I’m not sure what your goal is to substitute heavy cream. Is it fat content, dairy, or because you don’t have any on hand?
This is a good article that shows you how to substitute heavy cream for any of those reasons 🙂 I hope you find it helpful!
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/heavy-cream-substitutes#section3
This looks amazing! Can it be served cold? Thx!
Hi Lubya, love this. Would you like to share this with the other participants in Food on Friday over at Carole’s Chatter? I have a weekly link up party – each week there is a different ingredient or theme. The current theme is Asparagus!
You can see upcoming themes in one of the pages at the top of my home page. If you would like to join in the fun please schedule a reminder for each week. The collection starts at 7am Friday New Zealand time – which might be some time Thursday your time – aren’t time zones confusing? Well they confuse me! Hope to see you soon. Cheers, Carole
I have always enjoyed your blog , you have a talent for recipe production , I am always looking for recipes like yours because let’s face it your good, I am a chef but in my blog which I am still putting content together I thought I would change my concept, I would like to post some of your Recipes as well, choose others, and not just mine, I like the idea of sharing I see so many food blogs with good recipes and well produced sites. Yours is one of them so with this said I ask for your permission to post a recipe or two of yours and of course I will link them back to your site, we both benefit I get extra content, and you get the traffic. Please feel free to contact me. ernestchef2@gmail.com
Thank You so Much
Ernest
Hello, Ernest! Thank you for your sweet comment.
If you are planning on sharing any of my content on your site, please remember that you can only share a photo and a link back to my original recipe, on my site. Please make sure not to actually share my recipe but instead, redirect people back to my site for the recipe.
Thank you!
Sounds good ,I will do as you wish , this would be a nice addition and short, you have nice photos that will dress up my blog side bars,
Thank You Ernest
Thank you again, Ernest!