Spinach and Ricotta Tortellini
| Serves: 4 people | Recipe course: Main meal | Total time (min.): 165 |
Ingredients
For the pasta:
3 large egg yolks
2 large whole eggs
280g '00' flour
Very fine semolina flour for rolling
For the filling:
2 banana shallots, finely chopped
20g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
200g spinach
100g ricotta
40g parmesan, finely grated
Couple of grates of nutmeg
Black pepper and sea salt to season
To serve:
125g salted butter
Handful of sage leaves (about 25g)
Method
Prep. (Before you begin)
1 - Put the eggs in the Kenwood bowl and give them a quick mix with the dough hook. Gradually add the flour, a third at a time, and mix until the dough comes together in a tight ball. You may need to add a tiny splash of water if the mix is too dry – you do not want the dough to be wet.
2 - Remove from the bowl and knead until the dough is smooth then shape it into a neat rectangle – this will help with rolling later - then wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
3 - To make the filling, melt the butter in a pan and add the oil. Add the shallots and sweat gently for about 10 – 15 minutes until very soft and translucent. Set aside to cool.
4 - Blanch the spinach by dropping it into a large pan of boiling water for one minute then draining it immediately. Run it under cold water until it is cool enough to handle then squeeze the remaining water out of it until it feels quite dry.
5 - Put the spinach, shallots, ricotta and parmesan into the Kenwood food processor bowl. Add a few grates of nutmeg, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Blitz until it is pureed.
To roll out the pasta:
1 - Attach the Kenwood pasta roller to the mixer.
2 - Half the dough, keeping the spare bit wrapped up, and flatten the half you are working with into a longish rectangle. Dust lightly with semolina flour to keep it from sticking.
3 - Run this through the pasta roller at gauge 0. Fold the long edges of the pasta over each side to neaten into a long strip and run it through the roller twice more. Now start moving up the gauges from 1 – 7, rolling the pasta through each time. Cut the strip in half if it gets too unwieldy. Dust with flour if necessary. Repeat with the remaining half of dough.
4 - Lay out the strips and using a 6cm round pastry cutter, cut discs from each strip. You should get about 40 circles in all.
5 - Spoon or pipe a small teaspoon of the filling onto the centre of each disc, brush the edge of one half of the disc with a little water and fold over to create a little crescent parcel. Gently press around the filling out towards the edges to get any air out then shape into the tortellini.
To serve:
1 - Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the tortellini for 3-4 minutes then drain but reserve the water.
2 - Meanwhile, melt the butter in a frying pan and cook for about a minute until it just begins to turn golden brown then add the sage leaves. Cook for a further minute. Add a few tablespoons of the pasta water and stir through to emulsify.
3 - Toss the tortellini in the butter sauce and serve, drizzling over any remaining sauce and with a grating of parmesan.