This quick and easy cheesy tortellini Pomodoro recipe is made with fresh tomatoes and basil with chunks of creamy, oozy burrata cheese nestled in.
This recipe is brought to you by DeLallo Foods
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If you were to find me making pasta on any busy weeknight, which is often, you’d most likely see me ladling it with one of my two favorite pasta sauces: EIther my simple Pomodoro sauce made with fresh tomatoes or my easy marinara sauce made with canned.
This tortellini Pomodoro recipe found its inspo with my need for a fast and easy dinner recipe that cooks up quick. Similar to my fan favorite recipe for gnocchi in Pomodoro sauce, nestling a couple of tennis ball-size chunks of dreamy, creamy burrata cheese didn’t hurt its popularity with the fam either.
This Pomodoro sauce calls for the same ingredients and authentic method I learned on my trip to Italy a few years ago with DeLallo Foods. Unlike meaty bolognese, this isn’t a heavy saucy sauce. Instead, it lightly dresses the 3-cheese filled tortellini instead of drowning and masking it.
What’s In Tortellini Pomodoro with Burrata
This recipe is really very, very simple, and made with just 7 ingredients.
- Fresh tomatoes—in Italy they’re called Pomodorino Vesuviano, or grape or cherry tomatoes. Here in the U.S. look for medium size tomatoes a little bigger than the size of a golf ball. You can usually find them labeled as cocktail campari tomatoes.
- Garlic cloves—there’s no need to remove the papery skin from the whole cloves in this recipe where they help protect the garlic from burning in the oil
- Extra virgin olive oil—DeLallo’s Private Reserve extra virgin olive oil is imported from Italy and reigns supreme
- Basil—fresh basil leaves are a must, tear them with your fingers so they don’t oxidize as they would when cutting with a knife
- Kosher salt—just two generous pinches bring out the sweetness in this sauce
- DeLallo 3-Cheese Tortellini—DeLallo’s authentic specialty Italian egg tortellini pasta is made of quality durum wheat semolina flour and filled with Parmesan, grana, and ricotta cheeses. This recipe would also be delicious with their ricotta and spinach filled tortellini or ricotta and mushroom tortellini.
- Burrata cheese—it’s extra oozy creamy middle is wrapped in a mozzarella shell
How to Make Tortellini Pomodoro
This recipe goes quick so have your tomatoes cut and garlic smashed with all of your pots and pans at the ready.
In Pan #1: Start the Pasta
Begin cooking the pasta before you start the quick cooking sauce. Cook the dried DeLallo tortellini just halfway, for about 5 minutes *BIG NOTE: Reserve at least 1 to 1 ½ cups of the pasta water to finish cooking with the oil later.
In Pan #2: Start the Pomodoro Sauce
In a large skillet, start the Pomodoro sauce. Begin by flavoring the hot oil with 3 smashed whole garlic cloves over medium-high heat. There’s no need to mince or chop garlic. Don’t let the garlic burn or the oil will have an unpleasant taste.
Cooking the tomatoes at a high temperature helps release the moisture from the tomatoes. Combined with the olive oil, this creates a creamy sauce. Fish out the garlic cloves with cooking tweezers/tongs and use a wooden spatula to break down the tomatoes as they cook.
Add torn basil leaves. Tear the tender basil leaves so they don’t oxidize, adding to the sauce as it cooks.
In Pan #3: Finish Cooking Pasta In Garlic Infused Oil & Pasta Water
You will need one more large skillet to infuse more olive oil with garlic goodness, then add the tortellini. Drain the tortellini and reserve the pasta water. Or, use a long-handled spider strainer to transfer the tortellini to the skillet with the garlic olive oil.
Stand Back for the Sizzle
CAREFULLY add small ladles of the pasta water (about ¼ cup at a time) to the tortellini in garlic-infused oil. Stand back so the water added to the hot oil doesn’t splatter and burn you. Fish out the pieces of garlic and continue cooking the tortellini in the garlic-infused water for another 4-5 minutes. Stir gently so the delicate tortellini doesn’t break apart.
Combine the Pasta and Sauce
Once the tortellini are tender, add the Pomodoro sauce. If there’s extra water in the bottom of the pan, pour it off before adding the sauce so it doesn’t become watery.
Be gentle when tossing. Cooked tortellini are delicate creatures. Don’t get rough with them or they’ll break apart.
Add Torn Burrata for the Melty Ooze
Tear the burrata in half and nestle the pieces into the tortellini and garnish with more basil and Parmesan cheese. Give the whole dish another swirl of olive oil. A couple of pinches of freshly ground black pepper never hurt either.
What to Serve With Tortellini Pomodoro
- The BEST Garlic Bread
- Caprese Salad (Plus a DIY Caprese Salad Bar)
- Arugula Salad With Shaved Parmesan Three Ways
- Caesar Salad with Garlic Croutons
- Killer Garlic Knots
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
Tortellini Pomodoro With Burrata
Ingredients
- 1 pound medium size tomatoes, such as campari or cocktail tomatoes
- 6 plump garlic cloves
- 8.8 ounces DeLallo 3-Cheese Tortellini
- 1 ½ tablespoons kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons DeLallo Limited Reserve Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 15 fresh basil leaves
- 8 ounces burrata cheese
- ground Parmesan cheese
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Cut the tomatoes into quarters and give the garlic cloves a smash with the side of a chef's knife, then set aside. Cook the tortellini in boiling water seasoned with 1 tablespoon kosher salt until halfway done, about 5 minutes. *NOTE: You'll be reserving the pasta water to add to the sauce later.
- As soon as you start the water for boiling the pasta, begin making the sauce. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large sauté pan and add 3 smashed garlic cloves. Set to medium high heat, and tilt the pan as the oil warms so the garlic is immersed in the oil to flavor as it cooks and becomes fragrant and begins to color. Add the tomatoes along with their juice to the flavored oil. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring and breaking apart the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Pluck out the garlic cloves and discard then continue cooking the sauce for 6-8 more minutes where it will thicken and become creamy. Tear the fresh basil leaves into pieces and add to the sauce when cooking is nearly complete.
- Before the pasta is done cooking, heat the remaining olive oil and the rest of the garlic in another large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Cook the garlic until lightly browned, then pick it out and discard. Use a long-handled strainer to transfer the tortellini to the oil, being careful of splatters when drops of water hit the oil. Carefully ladle ½ – ¾ cup of the reserved pasta water ¼ cup at a time into the tortellini and garlic-infused oil to continue cooking until the tortellini is tender and the water and oil are absorbed. Pour out any extra water before adding the sauce to the tortellini. Gently toss and sprinkle with more fresh basil and nestle torn pieces of burrata into the noodles. Give it a final drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle with ground Parmesan cheese and a few pinches of freshly ground black pepper.
Nutrition
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This post is sponsored by DeLallo Foods. As always, thank you for reading and supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. There are affiliate links in this post of which I receive a small commission. All opinions are always my own.
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