Easy Pesto Tortellini Skewers - Tortellini is tossed in pesto and skewered with sun dried tomatoes for an easy and delicious appetizer.
Click here for my Nut Free Pesto Sauce recipe!
I think I have mentioned in the past that I am part of my town's Mother's Club. Well, this past weekend the Mother's Club hosted a fundraising event. It was a night out of dancing with live entertainment. The membership was to provide appetizers for the guests. Appetizers, of course, are right up my alley. You guys know I love to binge on a good appetizer.
The only problem I had when thinking up what to make was that I had to drop it off around 6 PM and the show didn't start until 8 PM. I wasn't sure if the venue had plugs near the table where the food would be kept so crock pots were out. My only option was to come up with something that is served at room temperature and/or wouldn't get soggy.
I googled around and found this Tortellini Appetizer recipe on Taste of Home. This recipe contained mayo and I think you all must know by now, how I feel about mayo! Nasty. So I took the general idea and made it my own.
I wasn't able to attend the actual event (just provided some food) so I haven't had any feedback yet, but while I was putting them together, my husband must have snuck off with about a dozen skewers; so it's a safe bet that they went over well!
Because these Easy Pesto Tortellini Skewers are delicious both chilled and at room temperature they are a fabulous choice for potlucks, BBQ's or brunches.
- 20 oz Tortellini refrigerated (regular & spinach mix preferred but any variety will work)
- ½ C Pesto prepared
- 4 oz Sun Dried Tomatoes packed in oil, Julienned
- Small Skewers
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Cook tortellini according to package instructions. Drain and place either back in pan or in a large bowl.
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Stir pesto into tortellini to coat evenly.
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Drain liquid from sun dried tomatoes and place in small bowl.
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Skewer one tortellini followed by a strip of tomato then one more tortellini and one more tomato.
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Refrigerate until serving.
If using a combination of spinach and regular tortellini, alternate so each skewer has one of each. The color combination will make for a beautiful combination.
Recipe adapted from Taste of Home
How unique! I never would have thought of serving tortellini on a skewer like that.
Oh my goodness. What a fantastic idea. These look so delicious. I would love to make them for my family, I bet they'd be a big hit!
I love this idea!! We love to make skewers for the bbq I can't believe I never thought to make appetizers with them like this!! Looks great!
This looks amazing! Although I may want to eat all the appetizer and not make room for the meal.
I've done it. More than once. I would take binging on apps any day over a regular dinner!
These look really great. I love pesto and I love sundried tomatoe. Great combo.
I love pesto so I will for sure be trying these out soon! Would be perfect for a party!
It looks fantastic I've never tried it yet but I'd love to. So glad you shared your fantastic recipe. I'm sure my family would also love it .
Perfect party food - easy too - love that!!!
What a yummy idea, Christine!
This is genius! So simple but great flavor and so darn pretty too!
Oh my goodness! I am an appetizer gal and you have made my day! These look delicious. I love that they can be at room temperature. This will be pinned, prepped and made asap!
What a great idea, Christine! I must try your delicious Easy Pesto Tortellini Skewers at my next cocktail party - they are my kind of appetizer!
I always keep a huge bag of tortellini in the freezer for quick meals. Love finding new ways to use them!
Awwwh, those are the cutest skewers I've seen in a while. Never thought of adding pasta to one before, what an awesome idea! Thanks for the inspiration! 🙂
You don't even know how much I love pesto. These look wonderful! Incidentally, I had tortellini for lunch!
I absolutely love this idea!
I have a wedding I have to cater soon and those look so good and super easy to prepare!
I love these appetizers. What a great treat for the guests.
I love tortellini skewers for apps. I make them with olives and fermented feta! This is a great combo too.
These look super easy to whip together and so yummy!
What a fun and yummy party nibble!
How many skewers does this make?
I don't have an exact number of skewers. That being said, I just looked back at my photos and it looks like there are just over 40 skewers on the platter. My husband picked on some before the photos were shot and some tortellini got torn during cooking so I would say at least 50. I used the Buitoni brand of refrigerated tortellini if that helps to keep the number similar.
What a tasty treat! My family loved these at the family picnic. For the kids I left out the sun dried tomatoes but for the adults, I used aleady julienned dried sundried tomatoes. They are easy to assemble. I used a bit more pesto (and make sure you buy one you really like) but my family really likes sauce. The overall idea was a hit and already these have been requested for our family pasta night (along with the idea of serving room temp tortellini on skewers with small crockpots of different sauce to dip them in). Thanks for sharing!
Oh great! I'm so glad this recipe worked for your picnic! I agree, make sure you buy a GOOD pesto. There are lots that are lousy. I prefer the ones that are sold by the refrigerated pastas or a homemade version. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know your experience with this recipe! I must say, it has quickly become one of my most popular recipes! You've officially made my day today!
Can these be made the day before and refrigerated?
I have only made them several hours in advance. Perhaps keep a little pesto on the side and if they seem dry, pour a little extra pesto on top.
Accidentally bought Roasted Red Peppers and they worked really well with the recipe too! Can't wait to try with the tomatoes though! or maybe a combo of both 🙂
I like the red pepper twist!
Hi! Are these served cold, room temp, warm? I was a bit confused on that!
Sorry about the confusion. So, the beauty of these is that they can be served pretty much at any temp. I, however, think the best way is at room temperature.
These look great! Can you please tell me if you used 4" skewers or 6"? Thank you.
Oh Maureen, I wish I had the definitive answer for you. I don't have any skewers on hand to measure. If I had to guess, I would say the 4 inch. The tortellini took up most of the space on the skewer, leaving just enough room to hold the skewer.
I'm planning on making some apps for my wedding this summer.. woman on a budget! I'm wondering if I make these on a Thursday, will they stay good and tasty and not dried out if I am serving on Saturday?
Any other ideas of things that could be made on Thursday for Saturday consumption would be appreciated, thank you!!! (Keeping on a budget and serving about 100 people)
I would be very nervous to let it sit for that long. I'd be afraid of the tortellini drying out. As far as other ideas, are you looking for finger foods? I have this recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Wraps that can easily be converted into sliders. You could make the chicken ahead and then reheat it the day of and make the sliders or allow others to make the sliders themselves?
Ah, I should have mentioned I won't have re-heat abilities on the day-of. Rats!
That said, I may just have all the ingredients ready and ask some friends to put these tortellini bites together on the Saturday morning so they are ready for the evening 🙂
Ah! Yes, it's YOUR day, make your friends do the work! 🙂
Hi if I make them this evening for a lunchte party tomorrow, do you think that they will be fine!? Should I refrigerate over night!?
I would be afraid of them sticking. If you do it, I would suggest, at least doubling the pesto, or adding olive oil to prevent the pasta from sticking.
I can you use no-refrigerated tortellini?
In my experience dry tortellini and/or frozen tortellini doesn't hold it's shape as well as the fresh, refrigerated varieties. If you have a really great brand that holds together well, by all means go for it.
Going to make these this weekend for a camping outing where we all bring appitzers....... cooked tortellini this evening. Let them cool completely and refrigerated so they are ready to assemble. Can’t wait!
Mine turned out too dry. Perhaps if I would have cooled the cooked pasta before mixing with the pesto, they would have turned out better. Thoughts?
Hmmm, I'm not sure. I didn't have an issue w/ it being too dry. I haven't had any others either. I'm not sure what could have gone wrong. Did you use the amount of pesto listed in the recipe?
I have taken these to several gatherings and they are ALWAYS a hit!!!
🙂
This site showed an olive cheese bread with a section of Italian appetizers. This recipe is not linked with the picture. Can anyone tell me how to find this recipe?
I don't have a recipe for an olive cheese bread. Were you directed here from another site perhaps? I'm wondering if another site had a collection of recipes and mine was improperly linked by them?
I just bought the ingredients to make these tomorrow for a lunch potluck. Do I need to refrigerate these after making, or can I make them and then take them directly to potluck? Thanks!
You can take them directly to the potluck!
Hello and thank you for this recipe. I made this for my wedding reception. (We had a party at our house for our wedding reception) These were a big hit! People loved them. I did as well, they were delicious.
Also wanted to comment on a question I seen a few ask about making them a night before. I made these the night before and had them in the fridge and they still tasted fine. No sticking because of the oil in the pesto sauce.
First off, congratulations!!!! Less importantly, thanks so much for letting me know your experience, it really means a lot to me!