Butter sauce Tortellini

cheese tortellini in a plate with butter sauce, sage, parmesan, and pistachios.

Enjoy this cheese-filled tortellini tossed in an incredible butter sauce infused with lemon, garlic, and sage. This recipe is quick and easy for weeknights but elegant for special occasions. Top with Parmesan, pistachios, and crispy sage leaves for perfection!

Prep Time5

Cook Time20

Total Time25

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Global, Italian

Keyword: butter sauce, easy meal, easy pasta, easy weeknight dinner, garlic, lemon, pasta, pistachios, sage, tortellini

Servings:

Calories: 434kcal

Author: Lilian Vallezi

Ingredients

For the Pasta

12 oz cheese-filled tortellini (or butternut squash filling)
⅓ cup shelled pistachios
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

For the Butter Sauce

½ cup salted butter (4oz), sliced into equal parts (113 grams)
2 large garlic cloves, minced
black pepper, to taste
15 medium/large sage leaves
1½ tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed (or lime juice)
salt, to taste

Instructions

Fill a pot with 4 quarts of water (about 4 liters) and add salt. It should taste like seawater. Cook tortellini according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, in a separate large skillet, add sliced butter and melt it over medium heat. Once melted, wait about a minute, lower the heat, and add minced garlic, black pepper, and sage, stirring well after each addition. Cook until garlic starts to get light brown or the milk solids start to get brown.
Turn off the heat and set aside the sage leaves. Add lemon juice, stirring to combine. If your pasta is not ready yet, transfer the sauce to a tempered glass container so it stops cooking with the carried-over heat.
To assemble the dish, pour sauce over the pasta, including the little brown bits deposited at the bottom (they have lots of flavor), and toss to coat. Add the pistachios, parmesan cheese, and crispy sage leaves that were set aside. Serve it immediately.

Notes

Salting the pasta water is very important for a tasty pasta. About 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons of fine sea salt or table salt should be good for this amount of water.

Watch the butter sauce for the whole time. Milk solids from butter and garlic can change from lightly golden to burnt really quickly.

Nutrition