Cheese tortellini meets summer’s bounteous farm-fresh vegetables with a light lemon butter sauce. This quick and easy dinner is a perfect dish for a quick weeknight dinner or a healthy side dish for a cookout.
| Servings | people |
- 3 mini yellow squash sliced lengthwise
- 3 mini zucchini sliced lengthwise
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 package tortellini or frozen pasta of your choice
- 1/2 cup Pesto sauce
- 2 cups farm-fresh spinach chopped
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 lemon zest and juice
- 4 stalks purple asparagus quartered
- 4 stalks asparagus quartered
Ingredients
| |
- Preheat oven to 425°
- Combine squash, zucchini, olive oil, salt and pepper in bowl.
- Arrange vegetables on rimmed cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes, flipping vegetables over 1/2 way through.
- Cook tortellini as directed, drain.
- Toss tortellini with pesto sauce.
- Add vegetables and chopped spinach to tortellini, toss to combine.
- Top with lemon juice and zest, toss.
- Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and salt, as desired.
- Serve immediately. May also be enjoyed cold.
This recipe is incredibly fresh made with vegetable from Chef’s Garden in Huron, Ohio. The Chef’s Garden ships farm-fresh gourmet produce from their farm to your doorstep. The squash and zucchini are mini in size and full of delicious flavor, offering a fresh, milder flavor and delicate texture that you won’t find with traditional versions.
The green and purple asparagus offers differential flavors with the purple offering a sweeter flavor with higher levels of antioxidants and the green offering more fiber and a more earthy grassy flavor – both add vitamin B6, folate, and vitamin E to your diet.
Adding to the nutrition of this dish is a hearty serving of spinach which of course if loaded with vitamins A, C and K, magnesium, iron and manganese.
This healthy summer recipe can be enjoyed as a main entree, side dish, and even served at a potluck (if we ever get to that point this pandemic summer!).
If you haven’t enjoyed farm fresh gourmet vegetables like these, you don’t know what you are missing. When you place an order with the Chef’s Garden, you will receive in-season fresh produce that was only until recently only available to discerning chefs in the restaurant industry. They now offer to the general public their specialty and heirloom vegetables, herbs, and microgreens – nationwide. 
They changed with the times and I’m so glad! You can order a box of fresh produce in the size of your choice or single items like these edible flowers. It is amazing to get local produce delivered to your door! Check out my review and unboxing of Chef’s Garden.
Alternatively, this recipe can be prepared on the grill instead of in the oven. Just be sure to use a grilling tray so the vegetables don’t slip between the grates.