Stolen Green Vegetable Tortellini Salad

When I was a kid, the only tortellini I ate were floating in a bowl of barszcz (beetroot soup). They were a chewy-slurpy dumpling in a wonderfully sweet and sour concoction, and with a dollop of sour cream … even better.

The Italians, too, like their tortellini floating, except in broth.

So, when I had a pack of tortellini sitting in the fridge, I thought, let’s do different.

Which didn’t lead me to soup this time, but to Cookie and Kate, from whom I’ve now stolen this Green Goddess Tortellini Salad, with its green vegetables and blessed dressing. I made it for the first time yesterday, and it’s THAT GOOD.

I made a few adaptations …

… based on what I could buy, time available, and who was coming to dinner:

• 625g of VEAL tortellini (22 ounces) which worked very well with the flavours
• 2 bunches asparagus (lightly blanched)
• 1/4 thinly sliced fennel (on reflection I’d do at least half)
• a couple of big handfuls of sugar snap peas
• 1 zucchini chopped (lightly blanched)
• 3 handfuls of rocket (arugula)
• prepared the vegetables in advance. Didn’t use ice baths #lazy, just ran under cold water, then left to cool and dry on paper towels, before combining and adding lemon dressing
• cooked the tortellini at the last minute and while still warm, not hot, added the dressing to the pasta, then assembled the salad
• Also I doubled the dressing, 2 cups of Greek yoghurt (having lived in Greece, let me tell you, the quality IS important), almost all a bunch of basil and a good lot of mint, 3 smallish garlic cloves, but kept the salt at only 1/4 teaspoon.

This has given me eight-nine servings of the salad as a side, and a lunch.

We ate this on the back deck as an accompaniment to chicken on a mild spring evening. The two meats didn’t clash, but if you don’t want the meat, you could use the spinach or cheese tortellini recommended in the OP.

Stolen green vegetable tortellini salad is being added to the party foods list.

Buon appetito!

“Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.”

-attributed online to british runner Doug Larson, Gold Medal Winner – 1924 Olympic Games, who doesn’t seem to exist, according to official results. A British olympic gold medal runner winner that year was douglas lowe. Can’t find if he said this. (The 1924 olympics were the “Chariots of Fire” ones ie Harold Abrahams and Eric LidDell.) In 1908, the first vegetarian to be a running champion at the olympics was brit Emil Voigt, but he didn’t make this quote either. So, To whoever made this quote, we thank you.