Tortellini, Peas and Asparagus with Creamy Tarragon Sauce is a delicious pasta dinner recipe. The amazing sauce is made with garlic, wine and cream. Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing into your pasta before eating!
Rarely do we make a cream-sauce pasta (for fear of consuming too many calories), but this Tortellini, Peas and Asparagus with Creamy Tarragon Sauce is divine! I sometimes use fat-free half and half and still get great results! Rigatoni with Vodka Sauce and Skillet Baked Ziti are my other favorite indulgent pasta meals!
This recipe is originally from one of my favorite cookbooks for dinner ideas: The Best 30-Minute Recipe by Cooks Illustrated. It’s a book that has been around for a long time, but I still reach for it often!
Ingredients needed:
- unsalted butter
- shallots
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- garlic
- dry white wine
- half and half cream
- frozen peas
- fresh tarragon
- cornstarch
- asparagus
- fresh cheese tortellini
- Parmesan cheese
- lemon wedges
How to make Tortellini, Peas and Asparagus with Creamy Tarragon Sauce:
The complete, printable recipe is at the end of this post.
The first step is making the sauce. Melt the butter in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the wine and cook until nearly evaporated, about 2 minutes. Stir in the half-and half, peas, tarragon, and dissolved cornstarch mixture and simmer until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from heat, cover, and set aside.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the asparagus and 1 tablespoon salt to the boiling water and cook, stirring often, until the asparagus is tender but still crisp at the center, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the asparagus to a large paper-towel-lined plate and set aside.
Season to taste with salt and pepper, adding the reserved pasta cooking water as needed to loosen the sauce. The pasta water is golden and important and it really does work. Because pasta is cooked in the water, that makes the water starchy and perfect for adding back into the sauce. Don’t forget to save it!
What a wonderful dinner! There are great flavors going on in this pasta dish. Garlic, shallots and tarragon add enough to the sauce to make this a really delicious and easy-to-make meal.
Serve this Tortellini, Peas and Asparagus with Creamy Tarragon Sauce topped with some freshly grated Parmesan and lemon wedges. The lemon adds a little zing to the sauce. Enjoy!
The Best Pasta Recipes:
- Pasta with Spring Vegetables
- Tuscan Chicken Pasta
- Asiago Chicken Pasta
- Pasta Pomodoro
- Tomato Beef Pasta
Tortellini, Peas and Asparagus with Creamy Tarragon Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 medium shallots, minced
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1½ cups half and half cream
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
- 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into ½-inch lengths
- Two 9-ounce packages fresh cheese tortellini (or 1 pound frozen)
- ⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- lemon wedges
Instructions
- Bring 4 quarts of water to boil in a large pot.
- Make the sauce: Melt the butter in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the wine and cook until nearly evaporated, about 2 minutes. Stir in the half-and half, peas, tarragon, and dissolved cornstarch mixture and simmer until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from heat, cover, and set aside.
- Add the asparagus and 1 tablespoon salt to the boiling water and cook, stirring often, until the asparagus is tender but still crisp at the center, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the asparagus to a large paper-towel-lined plate and set aside.
- Return the water to a boil, stir in the tortellini, and cook until tender. Reserve ½ cup of cooking water, then drain the tortellini and return the tortellini to the pot.
- Stir the sauce and asparagus into the tortellini. Season to taste with salt and pepper, adding the reserved pasta cooking water as needed to loosen the sauce. Serve immediately with freshly grated Parmesan and lemon wedges.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
