Meatless Monday - Fresh Tortellini with Asparagus, Peas and Mint

Is my husband's new favorite pasta dish! My husband is a BIG meat and potato guy. Anytime I make any type of pasta or salad he always asks if we can add some type of protein in it... Well that all changed with this recipe from Fine Cooking that I found on Pinterest.

This is a one pot meal and so delicious and easy. Basically you boil the tortellini, peas and asparagus in one pot! And then in your serving bowl you add the olive oil, garlic, cayenne pepper, cheese, mint and toasted pine nuts in the other. Did I mention how yummy this meal is? 

Ingredients: 

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 medium garlic cloves pressed
• 1/8 tsp cayenne
• 1lb fresh cheese tortellini (I used Buitoni)
• 1lb asparagus trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 cup peas (I used de-thawed frozen but you could use fresh!)
• 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted (I didn't use these because I forgot to buy them!!)
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint
• 2 oz fresh goat cheese, softened (I used pecorino romano cheese)
• Salt & Pepper

Directions: 

• Cook tortellini according to directions. With 3 minutes left add asparagus and with one minute left add the peas. You want to make sure that you don't overcook the vegetables and make them mushy. 
• In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, garlic, cayenne, and 1/2 tsp salt
• Reserve one cup of pasta cooking water, and drain pasta with vegetables and toss in large bowl with garlic/olive oil mixture. 
• Add the pine nuts, mint, and cheese and stir until the cheese melts into the sauce. Add cooking water if needed to moisten the pasta. Season to taste!

The best part of this recipe is all the different ways you can change it based on the ingredients you have in your house! You can add some crispy procisutto, try penne instead of tortellini, maybe a flavored olive oil, and play around with different cheeses!

Would love to hear how you would make this dish differently!

Apologizing in advance for the bad photos! My camera lens broke so I am back to using my iPhone to take pictures!

Happy Pinning!