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.
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.