Pesto Pea Soup with Tortellini
Published Apr 14, 2015•Updated Apr 20, 2022
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Pesto and Sweet Pea Soup is a 30-minute meal and is light and fresh but hearty enough to serve all on its own with crusty bread. This soup is spring in a bowl – sweet and fresh and topped with tortellini. And it’s super fast since it uses frozen peas, but if you had fresh sweet peas (lucky you!), this would be a great way to use them.
I always love spring food. This time of year makes me think of artichokes and strawberries and the first tiny, sweet peas of the year. And even though it is an ode to spring, this soup can be made using only pantry/freezer ingredients. I had everything on hand, including this pesto, and an old Gourmet magazine recipe for pesto pea soup that had been calling my name.
Cheesy tortellini (or any variety you like), a sprinkle of Maldon salt, and a drizzle of good olive oil turn this simple 30 minute dinner into something special.
More Spring Recipes
- Muffin Pan Strawberry Shortcakes
- Bacon, Corn and Avocado Salad
- Creamy Shells with Peas and Bacon
- Semolina Yogurt Cake
- Instant Pot Steamed Artichokes
- Sweet and Salty Easter Bark
- Frittata with Asparagus, Bacon and Goat Cheese
- Carrot Top Chocolate Cupcakes
- Curried Carrot Soup with Toasted Pepitas
- Spring Cobb Salad with Creamy Herb Yogurt Dressing
- No-Bake Strawberry Cream Pie
- Pink Lemonade Bars
Favorite Tools
- 6-inch Global Knife
- Cutting Board
- Cuisinart Stockpot with Strainer
- All Clad Saucepan
- Standing Blender
- Maldon Sea Salt Flakes
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Pesto Pea Soup with Tortellini
Equipment
- Stockpot
- Saucepan
- Standing Blender
Ingredients
- 8 oz Tortellini
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 small Onion, finely chopped
- 2 medium Celery Ribs, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 4 cups Vegetable or Chicken Stock
- 1 lb Sweet Peas, fresh or frozen (about 3 and 3/4 cups)
- 1/2 cup Pesto
- 2 teaspoons Lemon Juice
- Maldon or other large grain salt (optional, for topping)
- olive oil (optional, for topping)
Instructions
- Cook tortellini according to package directions.
- While tortellini cooks, heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Add butter and when it melts, add onion, celery, and salt. Saute until onions are fragrant, 4 to 6 minutes.
- Add stock and bring to a simmer. Add peas and simmer just until peas are warmed through and tender, 2 minutes for frozen and 5 minutes for fresh. (Reserve a few cooked peas for topping the soup if you'd like.)
- Remove soup from heat. Purée soup in 2 batches in a blender until smooth (use caution when blending because hot liquids expand).
- Pour puréed soup back into saucepan. Stir in pesto and lemon juice. Taste and season with some more salt and / or black pepper, if needed.
- Divide cooked tortellini between soup bowls. Pour soup over top. Top soup with reserved peas, Maldon salt, and a drizzle of olive oil.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Frank’s birthday was this week and we celebrated with big ole’ steaks and a fabulous view…
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I liked the simplicity of this recipe but it needed a little something more. Perhaps a squeeze of lemon for acidity, cayenne or paprika for a bit of spice, or some milk or a sprinkle of cheese for some richness.
Hi Admin i m searching on google to find Pea Soup recipe and i m so glad to find your fantastic site and i got complete recipe of Pea Soup i will try to make Pea Soup By your way thanks for it.
Is the nutritional information per serving or for the whole batch, with the tort and pesto I assume it is but I’m not sure? I’m definitely going to try this it sounds delicious!!!
Hi Emily – thanks so much for checking. We just updated our recipe format to make it easier to read and a few recipes had formatting issues that didn’t copy over correctly. The recipe is updated, but it serves 4, so nutrition information is for 1/4 of the recipe as written (includes soup and tortellini). Hope you like it – it’s one of my spring-time favorites!
I love peas, I don’t do this sort of dish often enough, Usually of course you think of peas and mint, maybe peas with spinach or peas and parsley , also very good, Your addition of pasta and pesto was magic , I added parmesan topping you could also try a sharper cheese topping to taste. With all these variations I will have a pea soup everyday of the week.
Jan – thanks so much for your note! Love the variations – I will definitely try them out!
This is perfect, Jess! I love a quick and easy dinner like this one, and I always have a bag of frozen peas in my freezer. They’re one of my quick dinner standbys, useful in so many ways. I’ll just need to pick up some tortellini and I’m ready to go!
Me too, Katie – frozen peas are one of those things I always keep around. So many uses, as long as I remember that I have them!
I feel like peas are so underrated! This soup sounds fantastic – especially with the tortellini!
YES! I kind of forgot about them, and now I’ve been serving them to my babies and am reminded that they’re so good. Especially this time of year.
Happy belated birthday to Frank. Jess, I love this idea. I have some frozen peas in the fridge but would like to wait for fresh to make this.
This sounds absolutely fabulous, I live alone and do not cook anywhere near as much as I used to do (but probably should) and believe this is something I can make and have a couple days worth of lunch and dinner soups with some wonderful garlicky breadsticks and then crusty rye another time, thank you again for another great recipe.
Maggie in Michigan
Thank you Jessie. Have a wonderful day!