Cream Cheese Pesto Pasta – you need only 3 ingredients and 5 minutes to prepare this gorgeous creamy pasta dish!
The other day I needed to make a quick and easy lunch without much fuss. I had some pesto and cream cheese in the fridge so I thought of mixing them together to make milder pesto sauce. Bingo! It was sooo good that it deserved to end up on my blog.
First time I used spaghetti because it was the only type of pasta I had in my pantry, but today I thought tortellini would make an even more substantial meal.
The measurements for the ingredients are more of a guide than a strict rule – you can add more or less of any ingredient, to your liking.
Cream Cheese Pesto Pasta is definitely a keeper for those days when we don’t have time or energy to cook, but we still want to eat warm and home-cooked meal!
- 250 g (2 cups) dry tortellini or other pasta
- 6 Tbsp cream cheese
- 3-4 Tbsp pesto sauce
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Cook pasta according package to directions. Drain, but reserve about 1/2 cup water.
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Whisk cream cheese with pesto and about 6 Tbsp pasta water until creamy. Adding more or less water will produce thinner or thicker sauce. Pour over drained tortellini and toss to combine.
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Serve immediately. Serving suggestion (optional): sprinkle with some chopped parsley, roasted sunflower seeds and grated Parmesan cheese.
This recipe was first published on: August 27, 2016.
It looks divine! Should it be eaten hot or cold, or both? Seems like it would be good both ways.
Thanks, I’ll give it a shot.
I’m federica , are Italian and I live in Genoa, home of pesto.
I write to tell you that no one in Italy seasons tortellini with pesto, not even dead!
then of course … everyone does what he wants!
with love
federica
I’m aware of that. I did not claim that it is a traditional Italian recipe, but something I whipped up on a hot summer day from ingredients I had at hand. It was just an experiment and I liked it.
Excellent criticism.
There is always an Italian who complains how others make ‘their’ food.
Newsflash: pasta is actually Chinese and experimenting leads to better recipes.
I know that pasta is a Chinese invention, but pesto is Genoese, and tortellini too!
sorry…tortellini is italian too!
A box of this a jar of that,especially those extra pantry items purchased with coupons made a nice little meal.
I made this with plain pasta. It most definitely needs more of something. 3 ingredients and “that’s it” is not this simple. It’s plain, and very gross.
I made this last night with plain pasta and bacon fried til it’s super-crispy and broccoli to make it more balanced. The combination of cream cheese and pesto is a bit odd, but it works OK. This is a good meal if you’re pressed for time and don’t really have much else in your kitchen.