Tortellini Salad Recipe

I love summer BBQ's! How can you not love them, gathering with family and friends, eating lots of good food off of the grill, laughing, being outside and making memories.  This past weekend, my parents hosted a pool party at their house.  The weather was perfect, the pool was refreshing and there was lots of wiffle ball played.   Overall, it was a great day.   

I knew my father, a.k.a. the grill master, would be cooking up some great BBQ food on the grill, so I thought I would make a tortellini salad to accompany his food.  This salad is so easy to put together and only has a few ingredients {4 to be exact}.  You could add lots of other summer veggies to this recipe and make it your own, so please think of this as a starting point.

Tortellini Salad Recipe

2 bags of frozen tortellini
1/2 English cucumber, cut into bit size pieces
4 ounces of pepperoni, cut into quarters
1 1/2 cups of ranch dressing

Cook the tortellini according to the package.  Drain and run cold water over to help the cooling process. 

In a large bowl, mix your cooled tortellini, cucumber, pepperoni and ranch dressing.  Depending on how much dressing the pasta absorbs, you might want to add more upon serving.  Use your own judgment and preference when adding the dressing.

Tips:
1)      This is definitely a party sized portion.  You can make this with only one bag of tortellini and then can cut back on the cucumber, pepperoni and dressing. 

2)      If you don’t have English cucumber, then use a regular one.  Just make sure to peel it and remove the seeds during preparation.

3)      Feel free to add any of your favorite vegetables; tomato, pepper, snap peas, etc. 

Tortellini Soup Recipe

Quick, easy, and delicious! What more can you ask for in a one-pot-wonder dinner?   This hearty soup is full of vegetables and cheese filled tortellini working in harmony.  This recipe was inspired by my mothers tortellini soup, but I added a few new ingredients to enhance the soup.

This is a vegetarian soup, but you could add some chicken, turkey, or ham into this for another layer of flavor if you have some leftovers.  This soup is very versatile. 

Tortellini Soup Recipe
Serves 6

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 yellow onion, cut
4 carrots, peeled and cut
4 celery stocks, cut
3 cans of vegetable stock
1 13 ounce bag frozen cheese tortellini
1 10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach

In a large soup pot, add the olive oil turn the burner onto medium heat.  Once the oil is hot, add your garlic and stir for about 30 seconds until the garlic start to infuse into the oil.  Next, add your chopped onion, carrots and celery.  Cook on medium heat until the vegetables are tender and starting to caramelize, about 5-7 minutes. 

Next, add the 3 cans of vegetable stock to the soup pot.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Once the liquid is boiling, add the tortellini and cook for 7-8 minutes.  The last minute of the tortellini cooking time, add your block of frozen chopped spinach into the pot. This will quickly defrost and disperse through the soup.  Once the spinach block has broken up, check the tenderness of the tortellini.  Once the tortellini are to your pasta al dente liking, you are ready to serve your soup.

Tips:  
      1. We love to serve this with crusty bread.  It dips so well into the soup picking up all of those yummy small spinach pieces.
     2.  This soup freezes well.  I will make a whole batch of this soup for just my husband and I, then I will fill two tupperware containers for future dinners and place them in the freezer.
     3.  Feel free to add any other vegetables that you have in your house.  Also, any leftover meats you want to use up will work great in here.