Simple but luxurious: Creamy spinach tomato tortellini

Tortellini pasta is absolutely delicious. But given the fact that it is already almost a meal in and of itself, with its cheese or meat filling, most people who make it tend not to make the most tremendous effort as far as sauce is concerned. But Jaclyn over at Cooking Classy has higher standards than most, and it shows in her elaborate recipes. Her creamy spinach tomato tortellini dish is one for the cookbooks – and the best part is, it only takes 20 minutes to prepare.

While it seems a little obvious to be saying this about a pasta recipe, this one is very quintessentially Italian. The tomato, basil, oregano and parmesan cheese involved all give Jaclyn's tortellini a wonderfully Mediterranean freshness. Here's a full list of ingredients:

20 oz three cheese tortellini (preferably refrigerated)
2 tbsp butter
2 cloves minced garlic
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp onion powder
1 1/4 cups milk (Jaclyn uses 2% milk)
1/2 cup heavy cream
14.5 oz petite diced tomatoes (undrained)
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh spinach (packed)
3 tbsp chopped fresh basil
2 tsp chopped fresh oregano (or 1/2 tsp dry)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tbsp finely shredded parmesan (and more for serving)
Red pepper flakes, for serving (optional)

Jaclyn relies on all-purpose flour to give her creamy sauce extra thickness, but parmesan cheese is definitely still a big part of the recipe. Naturally, feel free to substitute meat tortellini for the cheese variant Jaclyn's recipe calls for, or even add extra meat to the dish if you're feeling particularly ambitious.

Check out the full recipe on Cooking Classy for the step-by-step instructions, and make sure to SHARE this article on Facebook so everyone can try it!