Creamy Asiago Cheese Tortellini - tortellini smothered in a creamy Asiago cheese sauce. Easy and quick - the whole recipe takes only 30 minutes from start to finish!
A perfect and easy pasta dish - easy enough to make on a regular weeknight, but it tastes like pasta from a fancy Italian restaurant. Asiago cheese is very flavorful and perfect for cheese tortellini. And, garlic makes everything better!
Best Tortellini to use
I like to use (and highly recommend) the refrigerated kind of tortellini. For this recipe, I bought a 20 oz bag of tortellini and used ½ of the bag - which equaled to 2 and ½ cups of uncooked tortellini.
Cooking Tips
- How to reheat leftovers. While any creamy cheese-based sauce is best served immediately after making it, you can easily reheat leftover cheese tortellini with Asiago cream sauce by adding a small amount of milk as you reheat the sauce on the stove top.
- How to fix lumpy sauce. If the cheese in the sauce lumps - increase the heat and keep stirring at all times, until the lumps melt.
- If sauce gets too thick, add more broth to thin it out.
How to cook cheese tortellini
- Cook cheese tortellini according to package instructions.
- Rinse with cold water.
- Drain.
- Make sauce of your choice to go with tortellini, such as creamy Asiago cheese sauce.
How to make cheese tortellini sauce
- Heat olive oil and butter on medium heat in a large skillet.
- Add minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute on medium heat, stirring, without burning.
- Add vegetarian broth and heavy cream to the skillet with cooked garlic.
- Bring to boil, stirring.
- Once the liquids are boiling, immediately add cheese, reduce heat to medium simmer, and keep stirring everything together, on medium simmer, until cheese melts - about 1 minute.
- Reduce heat to very low simmer.
- Season with salt.
- If sauce gets too thick, add more broth to thin it out.
Creamy Asiago Cheese Tortellini
Ingredients
- 10 oz tortellini (refrigerated kind - half of 20 oz bag)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ tablespoon butter
- 5 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup vegetarian no-chicken broth or chicken broth
- 1 cup Asiago cheese shredded
- ¼ teaspoon salt approximately, to taste
- fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Cook tortellini according to package instructions, rinse with cold water and drain.
- Heat olive oil and butter on medium heat in a large skillet, add minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute on medium heat, stirring, without burning.
- Add vegetarian broth and heavy cream to the skillet with cooked garlic. Bring to boil, stirring.
- Once the liquids are boiling, immediately add cheese, reduce heat to medium simmer, and keep stirring everything together, on medium simmer, until cheese melts - about 1 minute. Note: If the cheese lumps - increase heat and keep stirring at all times, until it melts.
- Reduce to very low simmer, add salt. I usually add ⅛ teaspoon of salt, taste the sauce, and then add another ⅛ teaspoon of salt if needed. (Do not add all of ¼ teaspoon of salt right away - taste first).
- If sauce is too thick, add more broth to thin it out.
- Add cooked tortellini, and continue to cook, constantly stirring, to thicken the sauce - for another minute.
- To serve, top each serving with finely chopped fresh parsley
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Raquel
I picked up Asiago fresco on accident which is milder than regular Asiago. It was very good but I'm anxious to try it right. I threw in about 3 handfuls of spinach and a couple shakes of white pepper. It's a keeper for sure!!
Julia
Thank you, Raquel, for the comment! Glad to hear you liked the recipe! 🙂
Gina
This was delicious! I had two cups of grated Asiago cheese leftover in the fridge and came across this recipe so I doubled it. I’m so glad I gave it a try.. super easy and very tasty! I didn’t have any trouble with the cheese clumping, I wonder if it’s because my cheese was grated very finely? I don’t know, but there was so problem. I ended up letting it simmer with the tortellini for a while to let it thicken up and I wish I undercooked the tortellini to allow it to finish in the sauce. It was a little overdone, but still good. I also threw in some leftover grilled chicken which was a nice addition. Served with some fresh crusty bread and we had an awesome comfort meal. Thank you!
Julia
Gina, thank you so much for sharing such a kind and thoughtful comment! So glad you found this recipe, tried it and enjoyed it! Great idea to add grilled chicken and serve this with fresh crusty bread!
Beetle
This was soooooooo ridiculously yummy! Even the picky people in my house loved it! I used a little less garlic but this has the most perfect sauce.
Julia
So happy to read comments like yours! I am glad you enjoyed the sauce!
Micheal Ronel
Made this recipe last night for my friends, and the taste was perfect. Great recipe, Yummy and Delicious! Will make it again.
Julia
Thank you! I am so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Rebecca
Can chicken or sausage be added to it?
Julia
Yes, cooked or grilled chicken, or crumbled cooked sausage will taste great in this recipe.
Danelle
I had absolutely no problem with clumping after following the directions, super easy except for it doesn't say how long to simmer before adding the pasta. Delis, will have it again!
Julia
Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Jennifer
Does it have to be the refrigerated kind of tortellini? Would the kind you keep in dry storage work as well?
Julia
Any kind of tortellini would work.
Cathy
I had no problems with clumping but the Asiago cheese was way too strong for my family. I added andouille sausage which complemented it wonderfully. I might make it again but use parmesan cheese instead and maybe a bit less cheese.
Marie
Absolutely delicious sauce, but I had the same problem with clumping. I did have the liquid boiling before adding the cheese and it was mixing well until I lowered the temp. I used a block of asiago, which I grated myself. Next time, I'll try it with a commercially grated cheese as they have a flour coating, which would also help thicken the sauce a bit, and if that fails, I'll try a powdered cheese (like the cans of Parmesan), because this sauce has amazing flavor!
Julia
If it clumped when you lowered the temperature, raise the temperature again (to boiling point), add more heavy cream or chicken or vegetable broth to thin the sauce, and keep stirring (while on high temperature) until the clump melts.
Stephie
Making this even after your edits, and following the recipe to a T, my cheese still clumped up and separated from the sauce. Cooking and stirring continuously only made the situation worse. There seems to be something affecting the outcome of everyone's attempts, but I can't put my finger on it. The issues with the sauce don't make this dish any less tasty though so I plan to make again and try to figure out what I can do to make the sauce come together. 🙂
Kathy Levo
Add flour and stir thickens up nicely
Alex
Made this tonight and added sausage. It was so good! I will be trying it with chicken next.
Julia
Thank you, Alex! I am glad you liked it! Good to know that sausage tastes good in this recipe. 🙂
Sheena
I made this today. I would recommend maybe only using 1/2 cup of the heavy cream to make it thicker. I slowly poured in the cheese while stirring and had no problems with clumping. Mine didn't look as neat as the picture but still tasted good. I also added some shredded chicken.
Julia
Thank you, Sheena! I am glad you liked it! 🙂 Shredded chicken is a great addition to make it more of a complete meal for meat lovers!
Tonya
Mix some cornstarch and broth to thicken it up works perfect! Yummy! Way better then any jar! Thank you
Julia
Thank you for the tip! Yes, cornstarch is always great for thickening the sauces, even though I prefer just to use cheese and half and half.
Chance
Does using heavy whipping cream vs heavy cream change the outcome?
thanks
Julia
Heavy whipping cream and heavy cream work the same in this kind of sauce.
Linnea
For everyone having problems with the cheese I've figured out a method that works for me. I let the cream and broth to boil for a few minutes so that the whole pan is the same temp. Then I grated my cheese before I started cooking and I used the smallest holes to grate it so it was really paper thin strings. And I took 1/4 cup at a time and sprinkled it evenly across the pan. Then stirred it while still boiling and repeated the process until I got enough cheese and it went perfect! Hope this helps !
Julia
Great tips, Linnea! Thank you for taking your time to write such a detailed comment with tips on how to make the sauce! Yes, it's very important to make sure both the pan and the liquids in the pan are really hot. It is also important to cook the minced garlic in butter and olive oil as the first step - that helps to heat the pan and it also adds fats to the sauce which will help with cheese melting nicely. 🙂