One-Pan Sundried Tomato Tortellini Puttanesca

Does anyone else get ridiculously excited for meals that only dirty one pan or pot?

I can’t be the only one.

I actually look forward to cooking dinner when I know the clean up is going to be light.

And this one-pan tortellini dish delivers on both flavor (it’s crazy!) AND convenience (so easy).

This tortellini is another one of those dishes that came out even better than I was expecting when I was testing it. I made it a couple different times, tweaking things here and there, and I have to say: the result you see here is straight-up fabulous.

Puttanesca sauce is something I would have turned my nose up at in my younger years. Before I appreciated olives. And capers. And the flavor of anchovies.

If you’re still not on board with those things, I get it. But hear me out!

There is so much amazing flavor going on here from ALL the ingredients, that you won’t notice the anchovy flavor or be punched in the face with the brininess of the olives. Everything here is balanced and works together to create a super rich and SAVORY experience.

And while sundried tomatoes are not at all traditional in puttanesca, I added them here for that balance. They add sweetness with some tang, and I thought it would work really nicely with the other salty, briny things happening in this dish. I was right!

The sundried tomatoes become the star here. I actually don’t cook with them a lot because I find them to be a very overpowering ingredients. But here? They are working with lots of other strong flavors, and while they may all be competing to be seen, they all end up working together better than I could have hoped.

The trick to this dish is to make sure you have a really big skillet (or even a pot would work) and to have all the ingredients out and ready to go. All the steps leading up to actually cooking the tortellini go fast.

It starts with the flavor makers: shallot, garlic, red pepper flakes, anchovy paste (trust me), kalamata olives, capers, and sundried tomatoes. We even use a little bit of the oil from the sundried tomato jar for extra flavor.

These get a quick saute so they can get to know one another and release all that amazing flavor into the pan. A little white wine and some fresh cherry tomatoes are added next to brighten things up.

Then the stock and the tortellini. I love the fresh tortellini you can buy in the fresh pasta or cheese section of grocery stores now. I used to buy the frozen varieties, but the fresh taste so much better and they cook faster!

The tortellini cooks in about 5 minutes. While it’s cooking, stir and stir and make sure all the ingredients are still happy and getting to know one another.

To seal the deal on deliciousness, I like to add a drizzle of cream at the end. It helps to tone down all of the salty strong flavors just a touch. I also love to add some fresh lemon zest. It brightens things up in all the best ways. If you think about it, almost all the ingredients in this dish come from a jar or a package, and it makes a WORLD of difference to add a touch of fresh lemon to dishes like this. It wakes everything up!

All that’s left to do is serve her up! She’s a real beaut.

This is one of this meatless pasta dishes that feels like you’re eating something with meat – it’s SO rich and has so much depth of flavor. It blew me away!

I hope it does the same for you!

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