Balsamic Chicken Tortellini

I pull my inspiration from all over the place. TV, magazines, smells on the street, and my absolute favorites Food Gawker and Pinterest. When I have no idea what to cook, I open up my cooking board and start looking at things I pinned in the past. Tonight was one of those nights. As my day was coming to an end, I quickly scrolled through the board, deciding what I would pick up on my way home from the office. I adapted tonight's recipe from Multiply Delicious. I never actually follow a recipe (unless I am baking), I just read through it once, write down what I like from it, then make up the rest. For this I used the balsamic concept, but I made my own dressing. I bought a precooked chicken from the store, well actually a chicken breast because they were out of whole chickens. I also added garlic, because I love garlic. 

I've adapted this recipe several times since making the original version, and I think this current version is the best of them all! I double or triple this recipe all the time, it serves 5 as a full meal as listed below. This is a wonderful dish to bring somewhere or prepare for a large crowd, because it holds great at room temp and can be made ahead of time if needed. 

Ingredients: 

For the Salad:

• Rotisserie chicken
• 20 oz package cheese tortellini
• Head broccoli or bag of broccoli florets
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes 
• 1 yellow pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste 
• 6 basil leaves
• 1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese 

For the Dressing:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 gloves garlic

Method:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil, add tortellini and cook according to package directions, about 7 minutes, Using a strainer spoon, remove the tortellini and place into a large bowl.

 Add broccoli to the same pot & blanch it for 1 minute, then immediately remove with the strainer spoon, adding it to a bowl of ice water. This will keep the broccoli nice & green. Do not cook longer than 1 minute, you want it to still have a crunch, but not be raw!

Pull the chicken off the bone and shred. Heat in saute pan until warmed through. 

Chop the pepper and tomatoes into bite size pieces. 

Add to the bowl with tortellini and broccoli.

For the dressing: Whisk olive oil, balsamic, minced garlic and Dijon mustard until combined. Pour over tortellini and chicken mixture. 

Mix well to combine. Top with chopped basil and parmesan cheese. 

Serve immediately or refrigerate for 2 hours. 

This dish is even better the next day! So if you wanted to make it ahead of time to bring it somewhere, it would be fantastic. You can switch this up so many ways to make it your own. Maybe adding bow-tie pasta, some fresh mozzarella and basil. YUM! 

PRINTABLE RECIPE