Olive Garden Parmesan Crusted Prosciutto Tortellini Copycat

Happy Valentines Day and Happy Copycat Friday!

 
I have the perfect Valentines Dish for you to make today!

It's Olive Garden's Parmesan Crusted Prosciutto Tortellini. This was a request by one of my Facebook Foodie Friends.

Terri wanted me to recreate this dish so she could make it at home.

Why go out to eat when you can make this dish at home in less time then it will take you to get into a restaurant tonight?

This dish is really simple, all you need to do is purchase some good cheese filled tortellini, prosciutto, and YES, pancetta, why both you ask?

 
Because I think it gives the dish more flavor!

Fry up the pancetta, and prosciutto until crispy, remove from pan, reserve the grease.

The pan greases holds the key to extra flavor people.

Add about 1 small chopped onion to the pan greases, cook for about 5 minutes, add some garlic, heavy cream, lots of parmigiano reggiano cheese, and a little sharp cheese for an extra bite of flavor and color.

While the sauce simmers and the pasta boils, create the crispy topping by adding butter, olive oil, panko and fresh chopped parsley to a pan over medium heat.

Stir constantly until the mixture starts to brown, remove from heat and continue to stir as pan cools.

Don't forget, cook pasta 2 minutes less then stated on the package, add to the cream sauce and mix carefully, allow it to cook about 3 minutes in the sauce.

Mix more fresh parsley, and stir well. 

I like to reserve a little extra prosciutto and pancetta to top the dish before serving.

The key to this dish is great cheese, and fresh parsley, and all that pancetta and prosciutto doesn't hurt it at all! 

The final copycat results are: This copycat recipe is by far the best copycat recipe I've ever created!

And yes, I know I say this about everything I cook!

It's something about these little hot pockets of joy!

Every bite burst in your mouth, you taste the hot cheese, the crispy pancetta, then the prosciutto hits your mouth, it's like better than receiving diamonds on Valentines Day! 

O.K. that was a reach, it's almost as good as receiving diamonds today, almost...not quite, but it's a close second!

Enough of all the talking and picture taking, btw, I took a lot of pictures because I needed you to see the foodie love happening people!

I need to eat and you need to go shopping to make this dish for your special someone tonight!

Enjoy.

Olive Garden Parmesan Crusted Prosciutto Tortellini Copycat

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 lb tortellini, fresh
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 cup parmigiano reggiano, grated
1/2 cup sharp cheese, grated
1/2 lb prosciutto, diced
1/2 cup pancetta, diced
1/2 cup red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons parsley, minced
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon creole seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano, dried, crushed
pinch of red pepper flakes
extra virgin olive oil
butter, unsalted
breadsticks
salad

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.  Mix seasoning blend and set aside.

In a skillet add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat, add pancetta and cook for about 5 minutes, add prosciutto and cook 3 minutes more or until crispy.

Remove from heat and set aside.

Add 1 tablespoon of butter to pan greases and more olive oil if needed, add onion to pan and cook for about 5 minutes, season with 1 teaspoon of seasoning blend, add garlic and cook 1 minute more.

Add heavy cream to pan, bring mixture to boil, reduce heat, season with remaining seasonings and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.

Boil pasta, cooking 2 minutes less than stated on package directions. Remove from water, drain and coat in a little olive oil and set aside.

Add cheeses to cream sauce and whisk well.  Toss pasta into sauce and cook about 3 minutes more.

Add prosciutto and pancetta back to sauce with fresh parsley, mix well.

To serve add about 1 tablespoon of butter and olive oil to a skillet over medium heat, add panko and parsley, cook for about 5 minutes, until panko begins to brown, remove from heat, and stir to cool down.

Place pasta on a plate and top with crispy topping. Don't forget the bread sticks!

Enjoy!