Italian Cheesy Baked Tortellini Souffle Recipe

This cheesy baked tortellini recipe is the ultimate fancy dish you can serve for a special occasion. This Suffle di tortellini al forno is a crunchy, creamy, and delicious meal, everyone will ask for more. It is not an easy dinner idea for a busy night. It is a sophisticated souffle made with meat or cheese tortellini flavored with plenty of Parmesan cheese. Raise your culinary skills to a higher level and try; it is much easier to make than you think.

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• Ingredients
• Instructions
• How to serve them
• Top tips for making a souffle
• Equipment
• More baked recipes
• 📋Italian Cheesy Baked Tortellini Souffle Recipe

This is not an easy one-pot cheesy baked tortellini casserole, it is a sophisticated tortellini cheese souffle you can bring to a fancy dinner table, an ultimate comfort food.

The tortellini are mixed with butter, heavy cream, bechamel and plenty of Parmesan cheese, a sauce similar to Alfredo sauce.

However, the tortellini are baked in a souffle batter of egg whites bitten to soft peaks to create a frothy consistency around them.

There are no other vegetables, fresh herbs, tomato sauce or hearty meat sauce added to it as this dish is best with only the simple flavors of cheese and eggs.

For similar pasta bake recipes, you can try: Lasagna di Carnevale, baked spaghetti muffins,

Ingredients

Choosing the tortellini

The type of tortellini you use is essential. They cannot be too big as they will be too heavy for the egg whites to sustain while cooking. Their regular cooking time should be at least 8 to 10 minutes.

Since the tortellini needs to bake again in the oven, they will overcook and break if the tortellini pasta dough is too thin.

I usually buy the dried Tortellini pasta from Barilla (amazon affiliate link), my boys like the one with prosciutto and Parmigiano, but you can also find Cheese-filled Tortellini.

If you prefer, you can buy fresh tortellini or ravioli at your grocery store; just make sure they are small in size, the pasta dough is thick enough and the cooking time is adequate for baking.

Do not use frozen tortellini or canned.

Other ingredients

• Parmesan cheese
• Heavy cream
• Fresh eggs
• Butter
• Salt for cooking the water to boil the tortellini

For the bechamel:

• Butter
• Flour
• Milk
• Salt
• Nutmeg

For more information you can read the article: How to make a white roux and its related mother sauces

Instructions

Preparing the tortellini

1. In a large pot of salted water, boil the tortellini for 3 minutes less than what is in the package directions (if their required cooking time is 10 minutes, boil for 7 minutes only)
2. Drain them and immediately mix them with 1 tablespoon of butter to keep them from sticking.
3. Stir for a couple of minutes until the butter is melted.

Making Béchamel: White Roux

1. Stir 1 or 2 minutes the flour and the butter in a pan over low heat with a wooden spoon to create a white roux.
2. Remove from the heat and gradually add the warm milk making sure no lumps are formed.
3. Put back on the heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
4. Lower the heat and keep stirring till it reaches the right consistency.
5. Add salt and nutmeg at the end.
6. Let the bechamel cool down at room temperature

Preparing the souffle batter

1. Once the bechamel is at room temperature, add the egg yolks one at a time and stir until they are thoroughly combined
2. Add the heavy cream
3. Add the parmesan
4. Stir until the batter is homogeneous
5. Add the cooked tortellini
6. and mix thoroughly

Making and mixing the whipped egg whites

1. Pour the 4 egg whites into a bowl, making sure they are at room temperature
2. Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks
3. Pour the egg whites into the souffle batter with the tortellini
4. Mix very gently to keep the frosting stable
5. Pour the mix into a souffle baking pan
6. Bake in a preheated oven for 50 minutes at 355 F - 180 C until the top turns golden brown
7. To ensure the souffle is fully cooked in the center, pierce it with a metal stick, and it should come out clean.
8. Serve hot.

How to serve them

This souffle is a filling and satisfying dish; it will be your masterpiece for dinner with guests. You don't need anything fancy or rich to serve with it, just some light vegetables cooked simply and without complicated sauce.

Like fresh spinach, zucchini, carrots, or broccoli, a mix of steamed vegetables will do. Simply steam your vegetables in a steamer, pressure pan or microwave. You can check how I prepare the steamed zucchini in the recipe: baked salmon with steamed zucchini.

You can also serve a mix of grilled vegetables or a simple side salad with the tortellini souffle.

I discourage serving garlic bread or Italian sausage with it as the dish is already very rich and does not need any other rich food.

Garlic bread is not typical Italian.

For dessert, serve something fruity like a Pear crumble or a Tarte Tatin to contrast the richness of the main dish.

To finish a homemade liqueur to digest and cleanse: Limoncello, orange Curacao, Nocino, Chocolate liqueur, so many to choose from.

Top tips for making a souffle

Top tips for a perfect souffle

Making a souffle may sound challenging, but following some simple rules will make it easy to make and ensure success.

• The secret of a good souffle is to whip the egg white very firmly and mix it with the other ingredients at the end, very gently, to ensure the foam of the egg whites remains firm.
• Make sure your egg whites are at room temperature before you whip them.
• Once the mixture is composed, it has to bake immediately
• Don't open the oven while the souffle is cooking.
• To ensure the souffle is fully cooked in the center, pierce it with a metal stick, and it should come out clean.
• This dish is not suitable for a large group as a large quantity will not cook properly in the center
• It is not a great freezer meal

Equipment

To bake the souffle, use a ceramic pan (affiliate link) with a high border: 9 inches -22 cm in diameter.

An electric mixer to whip the egg whites is highly recommended.

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