tortellini
Also known as: Cheese Tortellini
Small, ring-shaped stuffed pasta, most often filled with cheese or meat; sold fresh/refrigerated, frozen, or dried, and typically boiled briefly, then served in broth or tossed with sauce.
Buying guidance
Fresh or frozen tortellini has a more tender shell and moister filling than the dried, shelf-stable kind, and cooks in just a few minutes -- dried tortellini takes longer and has a firmer bite closer to regular dried pasta. Check the filling on the package (cheese, meat, spinach), since the filling matters more to the result than the shape does.
Substitutions
- Cheese ravioli or tortelloni -- similar stuffed-pasta experience with a different shape and often a larger filling-to-pasta ratio.
- Plain pasta with grated cheese stirred in -- loses the distinct filling, but keeps things simple if stuffed pasta isn't on hand.
Tips & common mistakes
Fresh tortellini cooks in just a couple of minutes and keeps cooking briefly from residual heat even after draining -- pull it as soon as it floats rather than giving it the longer time a dried-pasta package might suggest, or the delicate shell can turn mushy or split.
Storage
Fresh or frozen tortellini is perishable in a way dried pasta isn't -- refrigerated fresh tortellini should be used within a few days of opening since the moist filling spoils quickly, while the frozen kind can go straight from the freezer into boiling water without thawing first.