Looking for an easy Weight Watchers friendly vegetarian pasta recipe? I hope you'll give this Easy Cheese Tortellini with Broccoli and Red Peppers a try.
It's adapted from a recipe in Vegetarian Classics: 300 Essential and Easy Recipes for Every Meal (affiliate link) by Jeanne Lemlin, a Massachusetts based vegetarian cookbook writer and cooking instructor, who described it as a staple in her house because it is quick, tasty and uses just a few simple ingredients that are usually in her refrigerator.
Recipe Notes
Her recipe as written calls for frozen ravioli, but I prefer fresh tortellini, so used it instead.
Fresh Cheese Tortellini
Bulking up pasta with vegetables is a great way to make it more satisfying and Weight Watchers friendly. I also added some thinly sliced mushrooms that were sitting around in the fridge.
I enjoyed this easy cheese tortellini with broccoli, red peppers and mushrooms for for dinner one night and the leftovers for lunch the next day.
This is an easy, healthy and delicious vegetarian pasta recipe that's going in my regular rotation.
How Many Calories and WW Points in this Vegetarian Cheese Tortellini?
According to my calculations, each generous 1-⅓ cups serving has about 385 calories and:
9 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
9 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
9 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
10 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
To see your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, Click here!
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Easy Cheese Tortellini with Broccoli & Red Peppers Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into thin 2-inch strips
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 pound fresh cheese tortellini
- 3 cups small broccoli florets
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, or ½ teaspoon dried
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta.
- Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium-size skillet over medium heat. Add the red pepper and garlic, and cook, stirring often, until the pepper is very soft, about 10 minutes. Keep warm over low heat.
- Add a large handful of salt to the boiling water and then drop in the tortellini. Cook according to the the package instructions, adding in the broccoli florets about 3 minutes before the pasta is finished cooking.
- Reserve ½ cup pasta water and when the pasta and broccoli are tender, drain them thoroughly in a colander and then return them to the pot.
- Carefully stir in the red pepper mixture, the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, reserved pasta water, basil and salt and pepper.
- Serve immediately with Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Recipe Notes
Source: Vegetarian Classics: 300 Essential and Easy Recipes for Every Meal (affiliate link) by Jeanne Lemlin
*Points® calculated by WW. *PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT each plan's ZeroPoint Foods (Green plan, Blue plan, Purple plan) using the WW Recipe Builder.
More Easy Healthy Pasta Recipes for Weight Watchers
- Skinny Artichoke & Spinach Baked Pasta
- Weight Watchers Pasta with Italian Chicken Sausage & Kale
- Skinny Pasta with Broccoli & Chicken
Martha is the founder and main content writer for Simple-Nourished-Living.
A longtime lifetime WW at goal, she is committed to balancing her love of food and desire to stay slim while savoring life and helping others do the same.
She is the author of the Smart Start 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
A huge fan of the slow cooker and confessed cookbook addict, when she's not experimenting in the kitchen, you're likely to find Martha on her yoga mat.
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Lily
Wish I could pin this recipe!
Martha McKinnon
Hi Lily, there is a technical glitch we are working to resolve. Sorry about that!
Martha McKinnon
Hi Lily, we have a technical glitch we are trying to fix. It is possible to install the Pinterest Pin on your browser so you can pin this recipe till our Pin is fixed: Here's the link: https://help.pinterest.com/en/article/save-pins-with-the-pinterest-browser-button