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Creamy Spinach and Mushroom Tortellini with Caramelized Onions​

Creamy Spinach Mushroom Tortellini with Caramelized Onions is an Italian pasta dish packed with veggies. This easy and delicious meatless recipe is a perfect weeknight dinner!

CourseMain Course
CuisineItalian
Keywordcreamy tortellini, mushroom tortellini, spinach mushroom tortellini, spinach tortellini

Prep Time20minutes minutes
Cook Time30minutes minutes
Total Time50minutes minutes

Servings4 people
Calories544kcal
AuthorJulia

Ingredients​

Caramelized Onions​

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 yellow onions large
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Creamy pasta sauce​

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 08 oz mushrooms (I used crimini mushrooms)
• 8 oz spinach
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 9 oz tortellini (I used 3-cheese tortellini, refrigerated)
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper when serving

Instructions​

How to caramelized onions (this can be done a day or 2 in advance):​

• Peel the onions, wash them and thinly slice them.
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil on medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add sliced onions and cook on high heat for about 10 minutes, constantly stirring with the spatula.
• Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking the onions for 10 more minutes, continuing to stir, as onions brown even more without burning. At this point add a pinch of salt over the onions.
• Continue cooking for 10 more minutes on medium or low heat, stirring occasionally to make sure onions don’t stick to the bottom of the pan or burn.
• In total, you should have cooked onions for 30 minutes. Remove the onions from the skillet onto a plate.

How to make the creamy sauce​

• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in the same skillet on medium heat. Add sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Cook mushrooms for about 5 minutes, occasionally stirring, until mushrooms are soft.
• Add fresh spinach to the skillet and stir on low heat just until spinach starts to wilt.
• Add back the caramelized onions.
• Add 1 cup of heavy cream and ¼ teaspoon salt to the mushroom and spinach mixture and bring to a quick boil. Immediately reduce to simmer. Keep stirring while the sauce simmers for a couple of minutes.

Add tortellini​

• Cook tortellini according to package instructions. Usually, that means to bring a large pot of water to boil. Add tortellini and boil for 7 to 10 minutes. Drain.
• Add cooked and drained tortellini to the creamy sauce. Stir on low heat for a couple of minutes to reheat.
• Top with cracked black pepper when serving.

Notes​

Helpful Tips about Caramelized Onions.

• Make-ahead tip. Make caramelized onions ahead of time, refrigerate them in an air-tight container, and use within the next 3 days.
• You can also freeze caramelized onions for up to 2 months and thaw them whenever you need them.

Substitutions for heavy cream

• Half-and-half. You can use 1 cup of half-and-half instead of heavy cream. Bring half-and-half to boil, then add 1/s cup of shredded Parmesan cheese. Reduce to simmer. Keep stirring while the sauce simmers until the cheese melts.
• Coconut milk. Use 1 cup of coconut milk to replace 1 cup of heavy cream. Follow the recipe as is.

Other Substitutions

• Use button mushrooms, portobello, cremini, shiitake or oyster mushrooms.
• Good substitutes for spinach are kale and arugula.
• You can also use pre-made ravioli, gnocchi or short pasta (such as bow-tie or penne pasta) instead of tortellini.
• Substitute tortellini with gluten-free ravioli or gluten-free short pasta, such as gluten-free bow tie pasta. You can also use gluten-free gnocchi (be sure to check the packaging as not all gnocchi is gluten-free).
• Protein. You can add grilled steak, pork chops, or chicken. You can also serve this with fish, shrimp, or scallops.

Nutrition​

Calories: 544kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 105mg | Sodium: 640mg | Potassium: 621mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 6190IU | Vitamin C: 21.5mg | Calcium: 198mg | Iron: 3.6mg

Dec 07, 2019