Cheese Tortellini Pasta with Fava Beans and Ricotta

This recipe combines cheese tortellini with lightly sautéed tomatoes, scallions, garlic, and a blend of ricotta cheese with basil and seasonings. It's finished with fava beans for a fantastic pasta dinner.

Jump to Recipe

Want to make this recipe perfectly the first time? I want to help with that. So, check out this Table of Contents to see which sections of this post will help you the most.

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
• 🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
• 🌱 Fava Beans
• 🔪 Recommended Equipment
• 📝 Instructions Overview
• ⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
• 💡Ideas for Possible Variations
• 🌾 Make it Gluten-Free
• Cheese Tortellini Pasta with Fava Beans and Herbed Ricotta

Confession #1. I'd never tried fava beans until I was in culinary school.

Confession #2. I didn't even know what they were.

But now I eagerly wait for them to show up at the market each spring.

Fava beans take some work to shell, blanch, and then peel. I won't kid you. But they have such a unique flavor and texture, that they're totally worth the effort. If you do this work ahead of time, say, while you're watching TV some night, just pop them in the refrigerator for up to a few days before using them. (More information on this in the Fava Bean section of this article.

And if you have some left over, use them to make this mashed fava beans and mint spread for some crostini. It's fantastic. Or make this warm farro salad with asparagus and fava beans.

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

• Make ahead - Cook the fava beans and make the herbed ricotta ahead for a super fast dinner.
• Easy-ish - This is a very easy dinner with the exception of shelling and peeling the fava beans. This part is easy, but labor-intensive. (But totally worth it.)
• Family-friendly and crowd-pleaser. Comfort food with fresh veggies and cheese is always popular.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.

🌱 Fava Beans

Fava beans are eaten by the bushel in Tuscany but remain fairly unknown in other parts of world. But if you've eaten broad beans, then you've had them. In fact, there are several names these members of the vetch and pea family are known by.

Favas show up in the spring, and generally only last through early summer, depending on where you live. In appearance, they look similar to both edamame and lima beans, but are very different in texture and taste. Fava beans have a creamy, nutty, slightly bitter flavor.

But they take some prep work.

How to Prep and Cook Fava Beans

First, you have to rip them out of bed.

They lie inside a furry warm pod, all quietly nestled together in the dark. When revealed, they look a lot like fat lima beans.

Next, pop them into a jacuzzi for 5-minutes. OK, don't actually use your jacuzzi if you have one. Just bring a pot of water to a simmer. The fava beans will puff up a bit, slightly toughen, and turn a faintly lighter color.

Drain them in a colander.

Lastly, peel off their jammies to reveal their "inner-bean", as it were. This inner bean is a vibrant green, with lime green tones, that slides apart into two halves. This is the nugget you're looking for, and worth the wait. Seriously.

There are at least 2 ways to do this:

• Pinch the bulge at the fattest end of each fava bean to remove the outer tough skin. Usually, a string will appear at the top. Pull it down the side seam of the bean to split open the outer shell to reveal the inner, brightly colored fava bean.
• Using a paring knife, remove the bulge at the top of the bean and gently cut down the seam of the outer shell. Squeeze the bean to pop the shell open. Discard the shell.

📝 Instructions Overview

Detailed instructions for making this cheese tortellini dish are in the recipe card below, but here's an overview!

Step 1

Prep and blanch the fava beans. Follow the instructions in the above Fava Beans Section to prep and blanch the beans, but instead of draining them, remove the beans from the pot of water with a slotted spoon.

Reserve the water for simmering the cheese tortellini while you peel the favas.

Step 2

Pasta. Return the water in the pot to a simmer and add the cheese tortellini. Cook according to the package directions. Reserve ¼ cup of pasta water and drain.

Step 3

Herbed ricotta. Stir together all of the ingredients for the herbed ricotta in a small bowl.

Step 4

Sauté. Sauté the scallions, tomatoes, garlic, and salt until the tomatoes soften and begin to pop. Remove from the heat and add the drained tortellini and herbed ricotta. Add enough pasta water to make the sauce creamy. Gently fold in the fava beans.

Step 5

Serve. Transfer to a serving plate, top with Parmesan cheese, and serve warm.

⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time

• Blanch and peel the fava beans ahead of time, maybe while watching TV on a Sunday evening, and store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.
• Stir together the ingredients of the herbed ricotta, and store it in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

💡Ideas for Possible Variations

• Ricotta cheese keeps the sauce on the light side. If you prefer a creamier sauce, combine cream cheese with mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.
• If you want to keep it super-easy with simple ingredients, eliminate the fava beans. Instead, add a couple of handfuls of baby spinach you can purchase pre-washed in plastic cartons.

🌾 Make it Gluten-Free

Use a gluten-free cheese tortellini instead of one made with wheat flour. Barilla makes one, although I haven't personally tried it.