Monday, March 2, 2009

Festa Italiana


Are hosting their 2nd Annual Festa Italiana.


I am sending over a Cheese Tortellini with Walnut Pesto for the table. This is a simple dish with big flavor, and the best part is it only takes a few minutes to toss together. Let's Party!

Cheese Tortellini With Walnut Pesto

Recipe:

1 cup walnuts
1/3 cup flat leaf parsley
2 cloves garlic, smashed
3 Tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 pound fresh or frozen cheese tortellini
1 Tbsp. butter

In a food processor or blender, pulse parsley, walnuts, garlic, Parmesan, oil, salt and pepper. Cook the tortellini in a large pot of salted water, reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water. Drain the tortellini, toss with 1/4 cup of pasta water and walnut pesto and butter. If too dry, add more of the reserved pasta water. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese.

34 comments:

******* said...

I could eat the whole bowl all by myself! I love this! Thanks for joining our festa, Linda! :)

Proud Italian Cook said...

I love how you used walnuts and parsley for your pesto. This is a winner dish for our festa! Thanks so much for joining us, can't wait to try this!
xox, Marie

Theresa said...

What a great dish for the party. Serve me up a plate!!!

OhioMom said...

Thank you Maryann and Marie for hosting a great Festa! Maryann, this is a dish that is hard to share :)

Theresa .. you would love this dish!

Balisha said...

A wonderful Lenten dish.

Grace said...

pesto makes it pretty, cheese makes it irresistible. nice contribution!

Jen said...

Oooooooh ... that looks heavenly!

OhioMom said...

Balisha .. that is what my DD said :)

Grace .. oh yeah, irresistible is the name for this dish :)

Hi Jen .. good to see you, this is the perfect light dish for Spring (which is almost here :)

Elenka said...

Oh, I've made that combo many times before...it is really delish...I add shredded chicken to the mix. Everyone should try it.

Barbara said...

Oh, I could live on cheese tortellini with pesto, Linda. Yours looks divine! Pass me the plate, please. :)

OhioMom said...

Elenka this is a good dish isn't it ?

Barbara, passing the plate :)

Lori Lynn said...

Great addition to the Festa!
Love the color.
LL

OhioMom said...

Thanks Lori, you know every time I looked at it I couldn't help but think this would be a great non-meat dish for St. Pat's Day :)

recipes2share said...

Very few things are as wonderful as homemade pesto - delicious!

My Carolina Kitchen said...

Your tortellini looks fabulous at the Italian fiesta. I like the idea of walnuts instead of pine nuts.
I sent my dish earlier to the fiesta. See you there.
Sam

Elenka said...

Yes, it is one of my favorites. I like it because it's so satisfying. I make my own pesto and freeze it using basil from my garden and then when that's gone, I buy store bought pesto.
Only thing....I make it a lot during the summer when i have company...goes well with a bbq, BUT 'I' never eat it when we have company. For some reason, all that green stuff seems to get stuck in my teeth and then if I do eat it, I'm paranoid all night about having green stuff on my teeth. What a curse. When I make it for my family, I stuff my FACE !

Cynthia said...

I'm going to the event, event if it is just to have your dish!

OhioMom said...

Thank you R2S :)

CK .. thanks, I enjoyed your blog :)

Elenka .. I know what you mean about wanting to stuff your face, pesto is the best!

Cynthia .. you are too sweet :)

shambo said...

You certainly have a way with pasta dishes. This looks so inviting. I like the use of parsley & walnut -- a nice change from the usual.

Lucy said...

Oh Linda, this looks so tempting, I could almost taste... I've been so very busy at work w/our corporate tax returns... geesh I'm so glad my end of it is over!!!

OhioMom said...

Hi Sue .. yes, we eat a lot of pasta .. you can do so much with it :)

Lucy .. LOL .. death and taxes, no escaping either!

Kevin said...

This tortellini sounds great!

Claudia said...

This is a staple in my house - I make all the pesto in the summer (some with pignolis and some with walnuts) and serve it up all winter. A taste of summer in a blizzard. Yours looks scrumptious.

bee said...

this looks so fantastic. i will be making it soon. it's been a long time since i visited. hope you are well.

OhioMom said...

Thanks Kevin :)

Hi Claudia, thanks for the tip on putting up pesto for winter use .. I will definitely be doing this as we eat a lot of pasta dishes :)

Hi Bee .. All is well, I will be over to visit soon :)

Claudia said...

Many thanks for your visits. I am going through your blog and love the seasonal and local (although the root vegetables have had their hey day - time to move on). I do as much as possible locally. Have my favorite farmers and my meat is all local. Thank-you for adding me to your blog roll! I shall be playing with my blog and adding stuff. I know we similar philosophies - I love the quotes!

Donna-FFW said...

This dish looks absolutely gorgeous! I love it. It looks so creamy and oh sooo good. Just wanted to let you know. Your blog is fantastic, been looking around!!
Loaded with good things!

OhioMom said...

Claudia you are very welcome, yeah I am a local foodie, you just can't beat the taste of a home-grown :)

Donna .. many thanks :)

MrBrownThumb said...

OM,

I just went to my sister's house to help her make a pasta dish. I totally could have made this instead. It looks scrumptious.

OhioMom said...

MBT .. you would like this dish, and it only takes a few minutes to prepare :)

Paula said...

I don't know when the last time was that I had cheese tortellini! That's all going to change now! This looks and sounds so absolutely lovely! I love that bright green color, and I bet everyone made yummy noises when they ate it! I know I will! YUM!

OhioMom said...

Paula .. I know you will be growing parsley and basil this year, I plan on taking Claudia's advice and putting some up this year, will be wonderful during those cold winter days.

Elenka said...

Where are you?? I'm getting hungry!

sam's cook said...

these colours are really nice!