We love pasta recipes (and delicious recipes in general)! If you enjoy more tortellini, you must try out Tortellini Soup with Sausage, includes Instant Pot and stove top instructions. Or try making your own pasta sauce with this Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipe.
Tortellini alla Panna Recipe
We eat a lot of pasta over here and it is more than just out of convenience. My kids L.O.V.E. pasta! And they aren’t bias on the type of pasta, either. Fettuccine, spaghetti, tortelloni, ravioli, capellini, macaroni, whatever type of pasta it is, they say bring it on!
Needless to say, we have eaten our fair share of pasta.
We switch up the variety of sauces, but they really love it when I make the pasta with just a simple cream sauce. It has a hint of garlic that gives the sauce a rich flavor.
The simplicity of this dish is what really makes it special. It’s delicious food that is done in less than 15 minutes!
Tortellini Pasta
Tortellini pasta, if you have never had it, are these delicious, ring shaped little pastas that are stuffed full of either meat or cheeses (or a combination of the two). In this amazing recipe, the tortellini get mixed into a homemade white sauce.
If you want to take the recipe a step further, you can add in prosciutto (or ham) and peas to make it more of a complete meal. I have included instructions to make it below.
If you have the free time to make homemade tortellini, it would be an excellent addition to the recipe.
Who needs an Italian restaurant when you can cook meals like this tortellini recipe right in your own home. It’s a good thing this entire dish will be done in only 15 minutes and loved by the whole family.
What is Tortellini alla Panna?
Tortellini alla panna translates to tortellini with cream. Tortellini pasta gets boiled, drained, and served up with a delicious creamy sauce. The cream sauce here is similar to a French béchamel sauce except in this case we do not use a roux with any flour to thicken the sauce.
Make pasta alla panna by just using any type of pasta instead of using tortellini. And you could always serve it with a white wine cream sauce instead of this sauce.
What is alla Panna Sauce made of?
In this version, we will be making a rich sauce made of heavy cream and parmesan cheese (similar to alfredo pasta) and I like to throw in garlic because I kind of love the stuff as proven in this roasted garlic in the air fryer recipe and these cheesy garlic mashed potatoes. And we can not forget my favorite dip in the whole world, magical aioli. Adding garlic is not a requirement if you have an allergy or just dislike garlic, then just omit it.
How do I know the Tortellini is Done Cooking?
Tortellini makes it easy on you and actually lets you know that it is done cooking! How does it do this you may ask? Well, since tortellini is a stuffed pasta, it puffs up and floats to the top of the pot when it is done cooking.
You want to pay close attention to it when it comes close to the end of its cooking time because you do not want that precious pasta to overcook. If it cooks for too long, you will end up with the filling spilling out or puffy, squishy pasta that has lost all of its texture.
What is the Difference between alla Panna Sauce and Alfredo sauce?
Alfredo sauce is a cream based sauce that really isn’t an Italian sauce at all. If you order fettuccine Alfredo in Italy you will be served fettuccine pasta made with butter sauce and parmesan cheese with absolutely zero cream in it whatsoever.
It is said that once the sauce came to America, chefs started adding heavy cream to stretch the recipe (parmesan can actually be pretty costly). And that is how it came to be.
Another simple pasta recipe that you may love to try is this lemon caper pasta.
What type of Tortellini to Use
The type of tortellini that you would like to use really comes down to personal preference and how long you want to cook your pasta. The are really three types of tortellini:
- We find fresh tortellini in the refrigerated section of the grocery store, this is the one we use the most. The cook time is about 5-7 minutes. Homemade tortellini may cook even quicker than this.
- Frozen tortellini is found in the frozen foods aisle. Cook time is about 3-5 minutes.
- Dry tortellini is found down the dry foods section, usually with all of the other dry pastas. Cook time is the longest with 9-12 minutes.
What are the Flavors of Tortellini?
Make this quick meal with cheese tortellini or meat tortellini. If you cook it with prosciutto, you may want to use a cheese pasta instead. Just pick a good tortellini and you will be on your way to a delicious meal.
- Three Cheese Tortellini
- Five Cheese Tortellini
- Cheese and Spinach Tortellini
- Herb Chicken Tortellini
- Prosciutto and Cheese Tortellini
- Mixed Cheese Tortellini
- Chicken and Prosciutto Tortellini
- Sweet Italian Sausage Tortellini
- Prosciutto and Parmesan Tortellini
Recipe Ingredients
These are the basic ingredients you need to make this easy dinner recipe. For the full ingredient amounts, just check out the recipe card at the bottom of this blog post.
- Butter: Use a good quality butter that is unsalted.
- Cream: Using heavy cream will give you extra creamy sauce. But, you can use
- Garlic: Fresh garlic is necessary, I do not recommend using garlic powder or the pre-mince jar of garlic. You can use the pre-peeled garlic though, it just has the outer coating removed.
- Salt: Add a little salt to the water for cooking the pasta and a pinch of salt to each plate before serving.
- Pepper: Freshly grated black pepper will give the best flavor, it is needed for the sauce and if you want to, add more to each plate.
- Tortellini: Use fresh, frozen, or dried tortellini. I like to use a meat tortellini if just making this with the cream sauce. If I add in the prosciutto and peas, then I will use a cheese tortellini.
- Parmesan Cheese: I highly recommend hand grating the cheese yourself, do not use the pre-grated dried (Kraft) parmesan cheese. It will not give the right flavor. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese will be used in the sauce, as well as, sprinkled on the final dish.
How to Make Tortellini alla Panna
Here is an overview of the instructions for this tasty dish. Check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post for step by step instructions.
- Fill a large pot with water and add salt (you can add a splash of extra virgin olive oil if you like). Put over high heat.
- In a large pan with high sides, add in butter and cream. Over medium heat, melt butter. Stir the heavy cream with the melted butter. Add in garlic and salt and pepper. Bring mixture to a simmer, cook until it has thickened slightly, about a minute. Remove from heat.
- Place tortellini carefully into the pot of boiling water, cook until slightly underdone about 4-6 minutes for fresh tortellini or 8-10 minutes for dry tortellini. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of pasta water.
- Put the pan with the sauce back over medium heat. Add in the tortellini, mixing it well with the cream mixture.
- Add in the cheese and stir until its melted. Coat the tortellini well with the sauce, add a little pasta water if you need thinner sauce. Serve warm.
Common Ingredients that get Added
When I make Tortellini alla panna, I typically just make it with the cream sauce, we love cream recipes. But, here are some common add ins for making it.
- Proscuitto, ham, or bacon
- Peas
- Nutmeg
- Fresh Basil leaves
- Mushrooms
What to Serve with Tortellini alla Panna?
The perfect side dishes to serve with this recipe are any Italian or French breads, a fresh garden side salad and a glass of white wine. You can make your own homemade bread or just make this easy stuffed cheesy garlic bread.
Recipe Tips
- Don’t overcook your pasta. You want to make sure that it is cooked to an “al dente” texture, which basically means it’s still a little chewy.
- Shredding the cheese. Make sure to buy a block and shred your own parmesan cheese, the stuff that has been pre-shredded has additives that don’t allow it to melt properly. Please don’t use the dried, grated stuff, use fresh.
- Different cheeses. No, you do not have to use parmigiano reggiano (parmesan cheese). Some other options are Romano cheese, grana padano, or asiago. Just like with the parmesan, I recommend buying a block of the cheese and hand grating it yourself.
- Different type of pasta. I love using tortellini here, but other stuffed pastas would also work such as tortelloni, ravioli, or cappelletti. The pasta doesn’t have to be stuffed though, you can use your favorite pasta shape.
Variations
- Tortellini alla panna with pink sauce. The pink sauce is red sauce with a little heavy cream mixed in. So you can go that route if you like, just use your favorite red sauce (or homemade) and stir in 1/4 cup of cream.
- Tortellini alla panna with prosciutto and peas. The addition of peas and salty prosciutto makes some delicious food. Full instructions are in the recipe card.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the difference is between carbonara sauce and alla Panna sauce? In traditional carbonara sauce, you need browned guanciale (cured pork from the cheek of a pig), black pepper, pecorino Romano and beaten eggs. As we know, alla panna sauce is a sauce made of a hard dry cheese and heavy cream.
- How do you pronounce alla panna? The word “panna” actually has a double “n” sound and the beginning of it sounds like “Don” than the word “pan.”
Storage Instructions
How to refrigerate tortellini alla panna? Let the pasta cool and put in an airtight container. It should last about 3-4 days in the fridge.
How do you reheat tortellini? When you reheat this pasta if the sauce has gotten too thick, add a little chicken broth or splash of cream to thin it back out again. Cook for until heated through.
Can you freeze tortellini alla panna? Because of the cream sauce in this recipe, I do not recommend freezing this recipe.
Try these other dinner recipes!
- Tortellini Soup with Sausage
- Turkey Pot Pie with Cheddar Bacon Biscuits
- Chicken Broccoli Braid
- Stuffed Poblano Peppers
If you’ve tried this tortellini alla panna recipe, don’t forget to give me a star rating and leave me a comment section below. I love to hear from people who have made my recipes!
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Tortellini alla Panna
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon salt, for water
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 16 ounces tortellini
- 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus more for serving
For Tortellini alla Panna with Prosciutto and Peas
- 2 ounces prosciutto , cut into bite sized pieces
- 1/2 cup peas, frozen
Instructions
-
Fill a large pot with water and add salt (you can add a splash of extra virgin olive oil if you like). Put over high heat.
-
In a large pan with high sides, add in butter and cream. Over medium heat, melt butter. Stir the heavy cream with the melted butter. Add in garlic and salt and pepper. Bring mixture to a simmer, cook until it has thickened slightly, about a minute. Remove from heat.
-
Place tortellini carefully into the pot of boiling water, cook until slightly underdone (or al dente) about 4-6 minutes for fresh tortellini or 8-10 minutes for dry tortellini. If adding peas, do so in the last 2-3 minutes of cooking.
-
Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of pasta water (its okay if you get peas in the water).
-
Put the pan with the sauce back over medium heat. Add in the tortellini (and prosciutto if using), mixing it well with the cream mixture. Add in the cheese and stir until its melted. Coat the tortellini well with the sauce, add a little pasta water if you need thinner sauce.
-
Serve warm.
Recipe Notes
- Don’t overcook your pasta. You want to make sure that it is cooked to an “al dente” texture, which basically means it’s still a little chewy.
- Shredding the cheese. Make sure to buy a block and shred your own parmesan cheese, the stuff that has been pre-shredded has additives that don’t allow it to melt properly. Please don’t use the dried, grated stuff, use fresh.
- Different cheeses. No, you do not have to use parmigiano reggiano (parmesan cheese). Some other options are Romano cheese, grana padano, or asiago. Just like with the parmesan, I recommend buying a block of the cheese and hand grating it yourself.
- Different type of pasta. I love using tortellini here, but other stuffed pastas would also work such as tortelloni, ravioli, or cappelletti. The pasta doesn’t have to be stuffed though, you can use your favorite pasta shape.
* Please note that all nutrition information are just estimates. Values will vary among brands, so we encourage you to calculate these on your own for most accurate results.
Nutrition Information
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