Tortellini with courgette and spinach in a creamy parmesan sauce.
Tortellini with courgette and spinach in a creamy parmesan sauce – a simple vegetarian pasta dish with lightly fried courgette, fresh spinach and a wonderfully creamy sauce of lemon, white wine, cream and parmesan. Fresh, creamy and full of flavour – and genuinely easy to make.
I start by slicing the courgette and frying the slices in a little oil in a hot pan. They shouldn’t be cooked until soft – just enough to take on a little colour on both sides, so they still have some bite. Once the courgette is lightly golden, I set it aside while I make the sauce.
In the same pan I soften the onion and garlic before adding the white wine and letting it reduce a little. Then the finely grated lemon zest, lemon juice and cream go into the pan along with finely grated parmesan. That gives a lovely creamy parmesan sauce with real freshness from the lemon.
The lemon really does something good for this sauce. The cream and parmesan give plenty of body and richness, while the lemon adds acidity and freshness so the dish doesn’t become heavy. Season the sauce well with salt and plenty of freshly ground pepper.
If you’d rather make the dish without wine, the white wine can easily be replaced with stock. In that case, you may want to add a little extra lemon juice at the end if the sauce needs more acidity.
While the sauce is cooking, I cook the tortellini according to the packet instructions. Save a little of the cooking water before draining them – it’s perfect for adjusting the consistency of the sauce.
The cooked tortellini are tossed straight into the creamy parmesan sauce together with the fried courgette and a good handful of fresh spinach. The spinach only needs to wilt in the hot sauce, and the courgette just needs to be warmed through so it keeps its texture.
Add a little of the pasta cooking water as you go, until the sauce is smooth and creamy and coats the tortellini perfectly. Bear in mind that the sauce thickens a little as the dish stands, so don’t let it get too thick in the pan.
Serve with extra finely grated lemon zest on top, plenty of freshly ground pepper and, if you like, a little extra parmesan. A small drizzle of good olive oil over the dish just before serving is also delicious.
An easy vegetarian tortellini dish with plenty of greens and the loveliest creamy sauce. The lightly fried courgette, fresh spinach, salty parmesan and sharp lemon are such a good combination – simple and really, really good.
Tortellini and courgette in creamy parmesan sauce
Ingredients
- 1 courgette, halved lengthways and sliced
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 100 ml dry white wine
- 1/2-1 lemon, finely grated zest and juice
- 500 g tortellini
- 200 ml cream whipping cream (38% fat)
- 50 g parmesan, finely grated
- 1 handful fresh spinach
- Pasta cooking water
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Oil
Method
- Heat a splash of oil in a frying pan and fry the courgette over fairly high heat until lightly browned. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Set aside.
- In the same pan, fry the onion and garlic until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Add the white wine, lemon zest and the juice of half a lemon and let it reduce. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.Meanwhile, bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the tortellini according to the packet instructions.
- Pour the cream into the pan, add the parmesan and heat the sauce through. Adjust the consistency with a little pasta cooking water if needed. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper – and more lemon juice and zest if you like.
- Toss the tortellini into the pan and add the fried courgette and the spinach. Toss everything together until the spinach wilts.
- Serve with a little extra lemon zest on top and, if you like, a drizzle of good olive oil and freshly ground pepper.
Nutrition
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