A friend of mine had a baby recently, so today I dropped off this casserole. Yes, really, this very one. “Sorry about the missing piece, I had to take a picture of it.” Nothing says I love you quite like offering up half-eaten food.
The salad I brought her had also been photographed (coming soon!). Â She’s coming out with an ebook soon, “The Dangers of Having a Food Blogger Friend and Other Tips For Dealing With Super Awkward People.” I’ll let you know when it’s up for sale. I swear guys I just get classier by the minute.
Welcome to your next 45 minute no-brainer meal. Only 15 minutes of prep time, by the way, and that’s if you’re slow. I mean, you don’t even have to boil the tortellini first. I love these meals that you can just crank out, you know?
It is definitely going up on my Get Dinner Done Pinterest board. I love stuffed shells and French onion soup, but sometimes my mind decides to shut down at 5pm, and that’s where this Easy Cheesy Asparagus Tortellini Bake comes in. I like it because all you do is dump a bunch of stuff in a bowl, mix it, then bake in a dish. Thaaaaaat’s it. When you find a recipe this easy that also tastes fabulous, then you know you’ve won.
The only thing you have to chop is the asparagus, which really doesn’t take long. The asparagus in this casserole is firm; it is not blanched or roasted before baking. I like it that way, I prefer a little resistance in my asparagus, but if that’s not your thing I’ve included blanching instructions on the notes to the recipe. It will only take an extra couple minutes.
Don’t forget to enter my Treatsie giveaway going on right now! Free stuff! Woot!
Do you guys give up? Or are you thirsty for more?
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Easy Cheesy Asparagus Tortellini Bake
Ingredients
- 1 15-oz jar Alfredo sauce
- 1 15-oz can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 cup baby spinach, packed
- 2 cups mozzarella, divided
- 1 tablespoon basil
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- dash salt
- 1 24-oz package cheese tortellini, refrigerated, uncooked
- 1 pound asparagus, trimmed and chopped
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, or another 1/4 cup mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In a large bowl, add the Alfredo sauce, drained tomatoes, spinach, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, basil, crushed red pepper, and a few shakes of salt. Stir together with a rubber spatula.
- Add the uncooked tortellini and use the spatula to break them apart. Stir it all together so that each tortellini is covered in sauce.
- Pour the mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish. Snap off the woody ends of the asparagus, discard, and chop the rest into bite-size pieces.*
- Layer the asparagus on top of the tortellini. Sprinkle another 1 cup of mozzarella over the top, then sprinkle the 1/4 cup Parmesan.
- Bake in the middle rack of the preheated oven for about 30 minutes. If the edges are looking brown but the cheese in the center isn't browning, broil it for 1 minute.
- Let stand for 5-10 minutes, then serve. (With a big salad and breadsticks! Yum)
Notes
Nutrition
Any kind of Alfredo sauce will do. I used good ol’ Newman’s.
Dump and stir!
Add in the tortellini. I used half of one of those double Costco packs, which was 1 1/2 pounds. I know at the normal grocery store they sell them in 20 oz packs though, and I think that would still work just fine. Maybe increase your spinach a little to make up for it.
Throw some asparagus on top. Blanch it first if you want it soft.
And of course cheese.
Voila!
I made this for the first time. I used Grape tomatoes in place of the diced. It was amazingly simple. I loved it and will definitely make it again.
How does it freeze? I want to make it for a friend who just had a baby and I wanted to let her know if she could freeze it.Â
Hi Kari! Yes, you can freeze this casserole after it’s baked. It’s even more convenient if you separate into individual tupperwares for easy reheating in the microwave. Enjoy! What a nice friend you are!
I have made this several times for my own family and most recently to take to friends with a new baby who needed vegetarian meals. It’s easy, filling, and delicious!
Hey Sarah! I’m so glad you liked the recipe! You are so nice to bring food to your friends, nothing makes you hungrier than a new baby :) Thanks for reviewing!
So delicious and easy. I used a can of Ro-tel and cauliflower puree from Wegmans for the sauce. I boiled the asparagus and tortellini for a few minutes before baking.
I’m so happy to hear you liked it Maribeth! Thanks so much for the review!
Baking this in the oven now! So excited to eat it, thanks or the recipe. I did add chopped cooked chicken and didnt use asparagus lol!
That’s a great idea, this would be so good with chicken! I hope you loved it :)
I made this tonight and after 30 minutes of baking the cheese was nicely browned but the tortellini were nowhere near cooked. In fact they were lukewarm and still pretty tough. I covered it with foil and put it back in the oven. Next time I would probably do maybe 30 minutes covered and then 10 or so minutes uncovered to brown the cheese.
Yum! Ok, I’ll admit it – I do not like Alfredo sauce. Yup, you read that right. :) But my family does….and lo and behold, I just found a recipe for cauliflower Alfredo! So I made that for this casserole and yum! I really pumped up the veggies with the sauce, added frozen spinach to the sauce, then the fresh spinach and asparagus. It was wonderful, big hit. A bit more work making my own sauce, but still quick. Thank you for the yummy recipe!
Cauliflower alfredo! Genius, Deb! I need to try that sometime. Thanks for commenting, I’m glad you found a version you like!
Karen, Just got done having this for dinner. It was fantastic! Loved the crunch of the asparagus, all the gooey cheese, and the perfect amount of red pepper flakes. Total winner in our book! This will be a repeater in our house for sure!
Thanks for the recipe,
Stephanie
Hi Stephanie! I’m so glad this was a winner for you guys. We love this one. Good way to use up all the spring asparagus! :) Thanks for commenting!
I was so excited to try this recipe. I used buitoni 3 chesse tortellini and Newman’s Roasted Garlic Alfredo. Finished product looked fantastic. It didn’t taste good. My wife thought maybe it was the alfredo sauce we didn’t like. The pepper flakes added some fire so be cautious about adding more. I expected this would be a weeknight go to dish but it won’t be. Well I’m 1 for 2 on recipes from this website. I’ll keep trying and reporting. Nice website Karen.
Thanks Michael! I’m sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you. This continues to be a favorite for my family, I just made it last week. Maybe taste test the alfredo first next time? Thanks for taking the time to comment!
I made this for dinner tonight (my second time making it!) because it’s just so darn good and easy! I meant to tell you the first time that I made it how much we loved it! It’s such a filling and yummy meatless meal, plus I love all the veggies in it. Thanks for such an awesome recipe, Karen! This is one of our new favorites! :)
Ashlyn thank you so much for telling me! I’m so glad you guys liked it! I am all about the easy meals lately. I need to bust out some asparagus soon. Happy Monday Ashlyn!!
I just made this and it was great! I will be making it again! Very easy! Very good!
Hooray Heather, I’m glad it worked out for you! Thanks for the review!
You are hilarious, Karen! Your friend was probably so tired from having a newborn that she wouldn’t have even noticed the piece was missing. I love quick and easy dinners, so this looks perfect to me!
OMG! I am seriously drooling. I absolutely HATED tortellini when I was little, and I feel like I wasted years and years of my childhood avoiding it (and hiding it in napkins) because now I can’t get enough of it. This looks so delicious and it’s going on my dinner menu for this week asap! Pinned!
Mmmm…cheesy, creamy, baked pasta is the best. So is nice, crisp asparagus. I hate soggy, overcooked vegetables. This is a dream meal, Karen, and you’ve photographed and styled it beautifully. As for the classiness of giving your friend partially eaten casseroles – I do this all the time now and I don’t give a damn. Bringing a cake to a birthday party? There’s always a slice that’s already been cut and then jammed back into the cake. I just say “I needed to take a few photos for my blog”. So what if people stare at me as if I have a second head growing from my shoulder? All in the name of food blogging, lol.
Umm yeah… My friends are getting pretty used to the missing pieces too. I once handed them a half-empty 8″-square baking pan of strawberry crumble because I took out 3-4 pieces for photographing. Thank goodness they don’t mind my awkwardness either!