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When my husband Jack and I go out to eat, we love to try new dishes! In addition to just enjoying great food – restaurant dining is also a great source of inspiration for us as food bloggers, and we sometimes turn that inspiration into recipes we share here on A Family Feast!
But other times – depending on the restaurant – I’ll order the same dish, time after time! For example, we eat out at Bertucci’s on occasion and I almost always order their Baked Tortellini with Chicken Gratinati! So – knowing how much I love that dish – Jack set out to make it for me at home (sweet guy that he is!), and I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that his version is EVEN BETTER than the version I get at Bertucci’s!
This baked tortellini with chicken gratinati is actually a very simple dish to make! Just pre-cook some frozen tri-color tortellini, and some bite-sized pieces of boneless, skinless chicken breast and then layer it into individual, oven-safe gratin or crème brulee dishes
along with some diced tomatoes and a flavorful, cheesy white alfredo sauce. Because we don’t have a wood-fire oven like the restaurant, we also added bacon to our dish – and while it’s a departure from the original recipe, it adds fantastic, smoky flavor that totally makes this dish!
While this isn’t an exact copycat recipe for Bertucci’s baked tortellini with chicken gratinati – if you enjoy that dish at the restaurant, we predict you’ll love this home version even more!
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Baked Tortellini with Chicken Gratinati
Ingredients
- 1 14.5–ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1 pound of sliced bacon
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 cup grated Parmesan Reggiano, divided
- 6 ounces shredded fontina cheese, divided
- 1 1/2 cups finely chopped fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh garlic
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast ,cut into bite sized pieces
- 13-ounce bag frozen tri-colored tortellini
Instructions
- Place tomatoes into a strainer over a bowl and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt and let sit at room temperature while you prepare the rest of the dish.
- Cook bacon until crisp and drain on paper towels. Cut bacon strips into bite sized pieces and set aside. Reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon fat.
- In a medium pot, melt butter over medium heat and add flour. Cook for four minutes stirring often. While this is cooking, heat cream to hot but not scaled either in a small sauce pan or in the microwave.
- Add the hot cream to the butter and flour mixture one third at a time whisking on each third to form a smooth sauce. Add ½ teaspoon of salt, pepper, nutmeg, ½ cup of Parmesan cheese, 3 ounces of the fontina cheese, fresh basil and minced garlic. Stir to combine, heat to hot and remove from heat. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a large saute pan over medium high, heat two tablespoons of bacon fat and cook chicken for about 1-2 minutes on each side. Should be slightly under-cooked as it will cook further in the oven. Remove cooked chicken to a dish or plate.
- Boil a pot of water and cook tortellini according to package instructions but remove from the water before the tortellini is fully cooked, as it will cook further in the oven.
- Depending on the size of your dishes, arrange four to six oven-safe, wide flat gratin-crème brulee dishes
on a parchment-lined sheet pan and spray each dish lightly with pan spray. - Spoon about two tablespoons of sauce on the bottom of each dish and spread to cover bottoms.
- Divide the cooked tortellini, cooked chicken, cooked bacon and the drained diced tomatoes among the individual dishes.
- Pour the sauce over each filled dish, dividing evenly.
- Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan and Fontina over the tops of the six dishes.
- Place the sheet pan in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops are browned and bubbly.
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Notes
You will need 4-6 oven-safe gratin or crème brulee dishes to prepare this recipe.
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So delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Ellie!
Seeing this recipe beneath today’s post reminded me to let you know that I tried this in December despite the fact that I’m gluten intolerant. It was delicious and even better the next day. Unfortunately, my reaction to the gluten made me sick, but I’m holding onto this gem of a recipe in hopes to find some gluten free tortellini some day soon.
I hope you find some gluten free gnocchi too Laura! I’m a big fan of DeLallo’s Gluten Free pastas which you can find on Amazon (including gnocchi here http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EBAGISS/?tag=afafe-20) – hope this helps!
Well i made another one of your recipes. This was as my husband said restaurant quality. I did make a few adjustments, i used spinach instead of the basil, and smoked gouda, for the fontina, it was what i had on hand. I did use a large baking dish instead of the small dishes. It still came out great. This time he is not going to eat the left overs all by himself! This is going to be on my next dinner party dish!!!
Sounds like a great adaptation Lee – we’re so glad you both enjoyed the recipe!
I want to make this dish Friday – but I don’t have any gratin bowls. Will it be okay to use a 9 x 13 ? It definitely looks nicer in a gratin bowl.
Hi Diane! Yes – it will work in a 9×13. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Was pretty good. didn’t realize til 3/4 way through the directions we needed oven proof bowls. ended up using a 13×9 which I think took away from it. Something just wasn’t right. You should notate towards the beginning of the directions you need that bowl(s), as those cheeses are fairly expensive.
Partially my fault for not reading the directions I guess
Might make again if we ever get those bowls. Need to rectify the oven proof bowl thing though, it holds be back from making French Onion Soup
Thanks for your feedback Mike – per your suggestion, I will add a note to the top of the recipe to avoid further confusion. For French Onion Soup, you might need to buy deeper bowls than the gratin dishes we used in this recipe which are more shallow. Thanks for taking the time to write to us!
Just made this wonderful dish for supper. It was like something from Olive Garden. It was absolutely fabulous. Thank you for sharing!
Just one thing, it took me an hour to get it ready to put in the oven. And that was with the bacon cooked earlier. I guess I’m a slowpoke in the kitchen. There’s a lot of chopping,grating,dicing besides the frying chicken ,making that yummy ,creamy ,cheese sauce and precooking the tortellini.
Thanks Irma! With all of the cooking we do, I suppose our timing might be faster than many cooks! Thanks for letting us know about your experience. We’re glad you enjoyed the recipe (even if it took longer than anticipated)!
Well I’m certainly salivating!! All that melted cheese! I’m all for bacon too!
Oh yeah Tanya! Bacon added to anything is ALWAYS better!
This looks like a dish I would order again and again too. Fun to make it at home.
Thanks Barbara!!
That looks downright incredible and absolutely like something I would order when we go out to eat!
Thanks Valerie!
Looks filling and yummy! Real comfort food!
Thank you Medeja!