[symple_box color=”gray” fade_in=”false” float=”center” text_align=”left” width=””]Ready to indulge in a creamy, cheesy and flavorful tortellini alfredo? Check out my lightened up version using light sour cream, two percent milk and buttery roasted garlic. [/symple_box]

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Sometimes, you just need something goey and cheesy. And super garlicky. I had a craving for fettuccine alfredo this past weekend and found a couple recipes on Pinterest that I wanted to try. One recipe in particular called for one cup of whole cream and three tablespoons of butter and it looked absolutely amazing. I wanted to indulge, but maybe not that much :)  I took that recipe and majorly adapted it to what I’m sharing with you today. 

This was the first time I’d ever made roasted garlic. And let me tell you— it’s AMAZING. You can just eat the roasted garlic right out the oven. It was so easy, you can bet that I’ll be including it in many recipes in the future. The taste is phenomenal– roasting the garlic takes away it’s pungent odor and flavor. My recipe today calls for two  heads of roasted garlic. Not two cloves, two HEADS. I thought this was insane at first, but once you realize how sweet and savory roasted garlic is, it will make total sense. 

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To roast garlic, you want to preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Chop the top of the head off (the pointy part away from the roots), trying to cut off just enough to expose the garlic but not waste too much. Create a tin foil boat for the garlic and drizzle with olive oil. Cover the garlic up with the foil and roast for one hour. The garlic comes out sticky and creamy, and will literally squeeze out of it’s casing once done. 

The roasted garlic and parmesan pair together beautifully. To save on calories with this alfredo, I made it creamy using light sour cream. Feel free to use Greek yogurt if that’s your thing and you want to punch up the protein factor. I also added a bunch of spinach to add color and a nice serving of veggies. 

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We ate this for dinner two nights in a row with toasted garlic bread and a slice of honey ham. This is on the more indulgent side of meals, so we treated it like a special meal :) To cut down on sodium, you could use fettuccine instead of cheese tortellini, add shredded chicken or shrimp and serve with a side salad. 

Here’s the recipe! 

Creamy Tortellini Alfredo with Roasted Garlic & Spinach
Serves 4
Print
For the garlic
  1. 2 heads of garlic
  2. 2 tsp olive oil
  3. tin foil
For the tortellini
  1. 2 heads of roasted garlic
  2. 1 Tbsp olive oil
  3. 1/4 cup half and half
  4. 3/4 cup 2% milk
  5. 1/2 cup light sour cream
  6. 3/4 cup grated or shredded parmesan
  7. 1/2 tsp salt (I use Morton's Lite Salt)
  8. 1/2 tsp pepper (use more or less depending how you like it)
  9. 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  10. 1 14oz container of cheese tortellini (if frozen, cook according to directions beforehand)
  11. 1 Tbsp olive oil
  12. 1 bag of spinach
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Slice off the top ends of the garlic heads and place in individual tin foil wraps. Drizzle with one teaspoon of olive oil each. Roast at 350 degrees F for one hour. Garlic will be hot-- set aside to cool before squeezing the garlic out of the head and into a food processor.
  2. Meanwhile, cook the tortellini according to package instructions if using frozen tortellini.
  3. Add the garlic, olive oil, and half and half to a food processor and blend until garlic is smooth. Add the milk, sour cream, parmesan, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Blend for 60 seconds until almost smooth. Set aside.
  4. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the cooked tortellini and sautee for a couple minutes. Add the sauce and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Finally, add the spinach and gently fold and let it wilt into the dish. Once the spinach is wilted and combined, remove from heat.
Zen & Spice https://zenandspice.com/

12 Comments

  1. I have never roasted a whole head of garlic either, but I can imagine how much our apartment would smell like garlic for days! Ha! This recipe does sound great, I love taking indulgent dishes and making them slightly healthier.

    1. Hahaha. Actually, our apartment only smelled like garlic for the night! And it wasn’t a “pungent” garlic scent– it was more of a mellow, sweet garlic scent like you’d smell at an Italian restaurant. Roasting it really caramelizes it and totally transforms the flavor!

  2. Tortellini is my absolute fav kind of pasta! This sounds so good that I’m pinning it :)

    1. Thanks for pinning! I love tortellini too. It’s so amazing. We used to eat it all the time when I was a kid!

  3. This looks so good! Roasted garlic is so yummy and roasting the whole head is so easy. I’m always looking for quick meals for the weeknights, so definitely pinning this one for later!

    1. Thanks for pinning, Carly! This is a very easy weeknight meal. I think I made it in less than 20 minutes!

  4. That roasted garlic looks amazing!!!! Beautiful dish- this will definitely be one I will try :)

    1. Thanks Katie! I <3 <3 roasted garlic.

  5. I love roasted garlic and can only imagine the goodness of this dish with two heads of it!

    1. Yay you understand that I’m not a crazy person for using two heads of garlic, haha! :)

  6. Using tortellini makes for such an easy and tasty meal! That used to be our go-to in college. Or late night drunk eating – take your pick :)

    1. Hahah yeah it’s very easy to prepare and tastes great with any type of sauce :)

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