While the rest of the country has had an absolutely dreadful winter, Los Angeles has had an extremely warm and dry winter. It’s been so warm that one of my tomato plants from last summer is still thriving and producing lots of tomatoes. I needed a recipe that would use a bunch of these tomatoes – that’s where this tortellini with fresh tomatoes, artichokes and smoked mozzarella comes in. It’s a strong, smokey mix of fresh and flavorful ingredients. There’s no cooking involved (other than the tortellini). Toss the vegetables together with a little oil and minced garlic – let it marinate as the tortellini cooks – and then one final toss with the tortellini and cheese and you’re ready to eat.
A couple of notes:
You can use fresh mozzarella if you can’t find smoked mozzarella but the smoked mozzarella really makes this dish special.
If you can’t find good, ripe tomatoes then use cherry tomatoes instead.
This tortellini salad is really good cold. So make some for dinner and use the leftovers for lunch the next day.
Coming Up This Week:
I have a glut of tomatoes at the moment. All the tomatoes below ripened at the same time – so all the recipes that I post this week will feature tomatoes in one way or another. If you’re a tomato lover check back this week for more recipes – or use the sign up feature and I’ll email new recipes directly to you.
Tortellini with Fresh Tomatoes, Artichokes and Smoked Mozzarella
Tortellini with fresh tomatoes, artichokes, salty olives and smoked mozzarella. A strong and flavorful sauce for tortellini.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
Ingredients
- 1 9 oz package of fresh tortellini – I used spinach and cheese
- 1 vegetable bouillon cube
- 2 cups diced tomatoes
- 6 oz of marinated artichokes
- 10 olives
- 1 garlic clove – minced
- 2 tbs basil – minced
- 2 oz diced smoked mozzarella – about 1/2 cup
- 3 tbs olive oil
- 10 twists of black pepper
Instructions
- Chop up the tomatoes in to a large dice. Add to a bowl.
- Give the marinated artichokes a rough chop and add to the tomatoes.
- Give the olives a rough chop and add to the tomato mixture.
- Add minced garlic and basil to the tomato mixture.
- Add olive oil and black pepper to the tomato mixture. Toss to combine and let sit 15 minutes to marinate.
- While tomato mixture is marinating, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook tortellini as per the package instructions. I added one cube of bouillon to the water.
- When the tortellini is done, strain and add to a bowl. Toss with cheese first – so cheese melts slightly over the warm tortellini. Add tomato mixture and toss to combine. Sprinkle with a little bit of basil to garnish.
Leave a Reply