A Buitoni Kind of Day.
Monday, May 2, 2011 at 1:20PM in Giveaways, Main Dish, Product Reviews, Sauce, Seafood, opinion, pasta Do you ever have one of these days? You get up early, maybe after a night of not-so-great sleep. You manage to get the kids and yourself out the door in the nick of time, and then when you finally get to start your day, it’s just one thing after another. And guess what? After work, you still have kids practices or some other errand to run, and THEN, you get the honor of making dinner. Yay. You want to give your family good food to eat, and fast food won’t cut it.
For days like this, you can have a few secret weapons in your fridge. Buitoni (warning if you’re at work: their home page has music that you can turn off--bottom right under Facebook logo) pastas and sauces can make a delicious ending to a busy day. Now, I’m all for making my own food in my kitchen. However, I haven’t yet tackled the art of making pasta. And after a day like the one I described above, who feels like starting that project at six (or later) in the evening? With a bag of frozen shrimp plus a couple other kitchen staples, a pack of Buitoni Mixed Cheese Tortellini, and a container of Buitoni Pesto with Basil, I had dinner on the table in minutes! Here’s my quick recipe for Pesto Cheese Tortellini with Shrimp and Peas. It’s got great tasting parmesan in it, which helps to thicken the sauce very nicely, as well as a nice hint of lemon. Feel free to change up the type of pasta, too.
Read through to see how you can try Buitoni pasta and sauce for free, and also enjoy a $25 Wine.com gift card, courtesy of Buitoni!
With my Wine.com gift card, I chose a light, crisp white wine to go with the tortellini pesto dish that I had in mind. It’s PRA Soave Classico from Veneto, Italy. We absolutely loved it! And with a 90 point rating (90-94 -- Outstanding; superior character and style) from The Wine Advocate, it’s well worth it’s very reasonable price of just over $15.00!
A funny side note: Renee from Flamingo Musings and I both ended up choosing the exact same wine! Out of all of the wines on Wine.com, we narrowed it down to white wine, from Italy, and chose the same one. Weird, right? Check out her recipe using Buitoni pasta and sauce, too.
Pesto Cheese Tortellini with Shrimp and Peas
serves 4
1 (20 oz) package of Buitoni Mixed Cheese Tortellini
1 bag frozen shrimp, thawed (41-60 count) or fresh if you've got them--tails removed
1/3 cup white wine
a bit of salt and fresh cracked black pepper
1 1/4 cup frozen peas (they can be thawed, but it's not necessary)
1 (7 oz) container of Buitoni Pesto with Basil
zest and juice of one smallish lemon
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan, plus more for sprinkling over finished plates
Set the water to boil for the tortellini. A couple minutes before you start boiling the pasta, heat a bit of oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the tortellini to the pot of boiling water, and cook according to package directions. When it's done, drain and set aside.
Sauté the shrimp in the hot oil, sprinkling them with salt and pepper. Add the wine, and be careful not to overcook the shrimp! You want them tender, not rubbery. Just before they're done (they'll still be a bit translucent), remove them and and the wine from the pan. Set them both aside in a bowl.
In the same pan, heat a bit more oil, and turn the heat down to medium. Add the peas and the pesto. Stir in the lemon zest and juice, heat through. Remove from heat. Stir the 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese into the pan, and then add the shrimp and wine to the pesto mixture. Toss to coat evenly. The heat from the sauce will finish cooking the shrimp.
Toss the sauce with the tortellini, or spoon the sauce over, if you like. I prefer to toss it all together. Sprinkle individual servings with more parmesan cheese.
- I’ve been using pastas from Buitoni for a long time, so I could already speak for the quality of those. If you’ve never tried their Wild Mushroom Agnolotti, you should--it’s fantastic!
- This was my first time trying their sauces, and I chose the pesto, of course. It’s very fresh tasting! If you don’t have access to fresh basil, as I don’t yet, since it’s not garden season here, this makes a delicious substitute!
- I used the PRA Soave Classico in the pasta recipe, as well. You know the rule! If you wouldn’t drink it, don’t cook with it!
If you’d like to try this recipe, or experiment and come up with your own, Buitoni has generously offered to give one of you the same goodies they sent me!
One lucky reader (US only) will win two VIP full-value product coupons, PLUS a $25 gift card to Wine.com.
To enter:
1) Like Buitoni on Facebook. This one’s a must! Let me know in a comment here that you did.
Additional Entries, if you like:
2) Leave a comment on this post telling me which Buitoni pasta or sauce you’d most love to try.
3) If you’d like to Tweet about this giveaway or Share it on Facebook, leave another comment here telling me that you did.
That’s it! Easy! I’ll choose a winner randomly on Thursday, May 5th. Good luck!
Disclaimer: I was given the two Buitoni coupons and the Wine.com gift card free of charge. I wasn’t compensated for my opinions, which are my own.
Reader Comments (19)
Looks yummy. :) In the interest of full disclosure I actually like bought pasta better than my own. I like making ravioli but my pasta rollers don't get much of a workout anymore.
I liked Buitoni on FB :)
The cheese and garlic torelloni sounds great so maybe I'd try that! Something fun and new :)
Oh how I wish this was on my dinner table right now!
looks amazing
Perfect for a busy day. You know we have the fancy pasta maker gadget for the Kitchen Aid & really have only used it a handful of times when good stuff like that is out there.
HI Elle! liked Buitoni on FB ~ thanks and good luck every one!
I would like to try the Herb Chicken Tortellini. When my kids were little I used to make Tortellini en Brodo and they used to call it "bellybutton soup"!! The spicy beef & sausage sounds good too!
oooooh! Love the addition of shrimp, and - in this house - I insert peas into just about EVERY pasta dish. Looks like this would work wonderfully with sugar snap peas as well!
Hi Elle! I liked Buitoni and I'd try the pesto because that's a sure hit in my house and I don't believe I've tried their brand.
I like their raviolis and the red sauces, I always use the cheeses...easier than having to shred my own and let's face it, they are good!
The recipe you have up there looks wonderful and I would love it, but hubby doesn't do peas, but I might just make it anyway.
Following on Twitter and Liked on Facebook
I LIKE Buitoni on Facebook
I Retweeted the giveaway on Twitter (handle: hecialis)
I would like to try the Chicken and Four Cheese Raviloi by Buitoni
I would definitely like to try the Buitoni Wild Mushroom Agnolotti. It sounds quite savory, and I've eaten their cheese tortellini as comfort food for years. But you can't enter me in the drawing because I refuse to join Facebook. Oh well. Also wanted ask you: your recipe sounds like something quick I'd love to make, but I'm vegetarian. Do you have any suggestions for shrimp substitutes that might go well with your seasonings?
I often think of quitting Facebook, myself! ;) It's a pain, but it does help me keep in touch with people.
As for a meat sub, my go to is always mushrooms. I can't imagine that mushrooms, peas, pesto and cheese would be bad together. Or maybe tempeh or eggplant cubes? Even tofu cubes that you lightly season and bake or saute would be great!
Hope this helps and thanks for your feedback!
I like Buitoni on Facebook (Roxana GreenGirl)
I tried their cheese (spinach, three cheese) tortellini and loved them. Would love to try other types of pasta too.