Tortellini alla panna - Tortellini with Cream Sauce

Italian tortellini alla panna e prosciutto: tortellini in cream and ham sauce with Parmesan and basil.

Amazingly creamy and delicious tortellini panna prosciutto or tortellini in cream sauce with prosciutto, an Italian classic recipe that is easy to make and always soooo good!

Such a simple recipe! Just a few ingredients and really not a lot of work involved, but such amazing results. You will absolutely adore these tender and delicate tortellini in that creamy Parmesan sauce, the hearty ham bits, the basil flavor...

Try more tortellini recipes: Baked Tortellini with Tomatoes and Mozzarella, Summer Tortellini Salad, or Tortellini Vegetable Bake.

Recipe ingredients

Tortellini:

• Fresh tortellini are widely available in almost any supermarket; they are not particularly expensive, and once you have found a brand you really like, you kind of stick to that.
• There are three sorts of tortellini you can buy: meat tortellini, cheese tortellini, and ricotta and spinach tortellini. I usually go for the cheese version.
• Fresh tortellini have a very short cooking time, about 3 minutes, so keep that in mind when you start cooking, as they should be served immediately.
• You will need about 750-800 g/ 1.6-1.7 lbs of fresh tortellini for the tortellini alla panna.

Prosciutto

• You will need some cooked ham for this dish, ideally Italian prosciutto cotto, but if you cannot find that or if it's too expensive, regular cooked ham will do as well.
• You will need to buy ham in a piece and not sliced ham, as you will have to cut the piece of ham into strips.

Panna/Cream

• I used regular heavy/double cream for this cheese tortellini recipe.

Parmesan

• And the Parmesan. Do use the real thing, which you can grate yourself, and not the already grated sort, which is cheaper but has nothing to do with real Parmesan (or real cheese) when it comes to taste and structure.
• Not to mention that a piece of cheese is always cheaper than already grated cheese, so compare the price per kilogram. Another win!

Basil:

• The basil was more of a garnish in the restaurant in Italy, but as I have lots of fresh basil on my window sill at the moment, I used more. And it was a good idea because it made the dish even better than I remembered it; I just love basil.

How to make tortellini alla panna?

This recipe for tortellini panna e prosciutto is very quick and simple; this is a dish you can really make in about 10 minutes or so; the longest it takes is to bring the water needed to cook the tortellini to a boil.

If you want to speed things up, make sure the water is already hot when poured into the pan, and cook the water in a kettle. This will save you a lot of time.

• Start cooking the water for the tortellini. Add some salt to the water.
• While waiting for the water to cook, cut the cooked ham into strips and grate the Parmesan.
• Melt the butter in a pan large enough to hold the tortellini as well later, and cook the ham until nicely colored on all sides; this will take about 3 or 4 minutes.
• When the water is cooking, add the fresh tortellini to the pan of water and cook them according to the packet's instructions; this would normally take about 3 minutes.
• While the tortellini are cooking, pour the cream into the pan and let it reduce slightly for about 2 minutes. Add the spices and the grated Parmesan. Stir well.
• Drain the tortellini well and give them to the pan with the sauce. Stir well; add some more salt and pepper to taste and the chopped basil.
• Serve the tortellini in cream sauce immediately sprinkled with more Parmesan. A simple salad with vinaigrette dressing would make a perfect side dish.

What to serve with them?

Recipe

Tortellini alla panna - Tortellini with Cream Sauce

Italian tortellini alla panna e prosciutto: tortellini in cream and ham sauce with Parmesan and basil.

4.60 from 5 votes

Print Pin Share GrowSaved! Rate

Course: Pasta and Rice

Cuisine: Italian

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 892kcal

Author: Adina

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients 

• ▢ 800 g/ 1.7 lbs fresh tortellini See note 1
• ▢ 150 g/ 5.3 oz cooked ham in a piece See note 2
• ▢ ½ tablespoon butter
• ▢ 200 ml/ 6.7 fl.oz/ ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons double/heavy cream
• ▢ a few gratings of nutmeg
• ▢ 40 g/ 1.4 oz/ ⅓ cup grated Parmesan + more Parmesan to serve See note 3
• ▢ 5-6 basil leaves

Instructions

• Start cooking the water for the tortellini. Add some salt to the water. When the water is cooking, add the fresh tortellini to the pan of water and cook them according to the packet's instructions, in my case about 3 minutes.
• While waiting for the water to cook, cut the cooked ham into stripes and grate the Parmesan.
• Melt the butter in a pan large enough to hold the tortellini as well later, and cook the ham until nicely colored on all sides, about 3 or 4 minutes.
• While the tortellini are cooking, pour the cream into the pan with the ham and let it bubble, and reduce slightly for about 2 minutes. Add a few gratings of nutmeg and the grated Parmesan. Stir well.
• Drain the tortellini well and add them to the pan with the sauce. Stir well, add some more salt and pepper to taste and the chopped basil.
• Serve the tortellini alla panna immediately sprinkled with more Parmesan.

Notes

1. Fresh cheese tortellini would be my first choice, but tortellini with another kind of filling would be fine as well.
2. Italian prosciutto cotto or another similar kind of cooked ham. Make sure the ham is in a piece and not already sliced, as you will have to cut it into thicker stripes.
3. Buy a piece of Parmesan, which you can grate yourself, it is so much better.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/4 of the dish | Calories: 892kcal | Carbohydrates: 97g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 39g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 177mg | Sodium: 1384mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 4g

Tried this Recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @adinabeck or tag #WhereIsMySpoon!