One dish I make year round that is always a crowd pleaser, is my Pesto Tortellini Salad. While the vibrant red, green, and white ingredient colors lend themselves to a holiday inspired side dish, this is really a perfect accompaniment any time of year and it is SUPER easy to throw together in a pinch. Best part? Guests go nuts over this and while it seems like a mature side dish, it is so simple to make that you’ll feel guilty accepting the compliments! 

Chances are, you already have these handful of main ingredients in the house, but if you don’t they are so easy to grab from any grocery store. In the event you don’t have Tortellini, you can easily substitute this with many different types of pasta, which will work beautifully as well.

This is also the perfect way to repurpose leftovers if you made a pesto pasta dinner the night before as noted in my earlier post linked here: Orecchiette with Arugula Pesto. 

The few simple ingredients in this dish are Pasta (your choice), Pesto (store bought or homemade), Fresh Baby Mozzarella, Grape Tomatoes, and Baby Spinach. Season with salt and pepper and gently toss together until well combined. 

Including cooking time, this dish can be made in under 10 minutes- and who doesn’t love that?! One of the best parts of this salad is that it can be made ahead, which, when entertaining and having other dishes needing to be ready at a specific time, is very helpful.