Homemade Goat Cheese Tortellini with a Simple Fresh Tomato Sauce

Some people read a book or go shopping or watch TV to relax, I make pasta.  I also make my own cheese to go in said pasta, but I'm nuts.  If you're not nuts like me, you can use a store bought creamy goat cheese.  

Homemade Goat Cheese Tortellini with a Simple Fresh Tomato Sauce

adapted from here

Serves 4

For the Cheese: (if making)

1 litre goats milk

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

3 tablespoons lemon juice

For the Tortellini:

350g potatoes (I used 3 medium Dutch Creams)

A god pinch of sea salt

150g baker's flour

For the Sauce:

2 tablespoon olive oil

30g unsalted butter

4 large high quality tomatoes, peeled, desseded and cut into small dice

3 cloves garlic, minced

Sea salt flakes

Freshly ground black pepper

To Serve:

Finely grated Parmesan

Handful small basil leaves

Olive oil

Make the Cheese:

Put the goat milk and salt into a non-reactive saucepan and heat until it reaches 85°C.  Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice, stir to combine and set aside for 5 minutes until curdled.

Line a sieve with a double layer of cheesecloth and strain the milk.  Discard to whey.  Put the curds into the refrigerator and  leave them to continue to drain until thick (an hour or so), and chilled.

Once chilled, mash with a fork until creamy and spoon it into a piping bag.  Set aside.

Make the Tortellini:

Put the potatoes into a pan of salted water.  Bring to the boil and cook for about 20 minutes until tender.  Drain and when cool enough to handle, peel and push them through a ricer into a bowl.  Add the salt and flour.  Mix with your hands until it becomes a dough, adding a little more flour if it's too sticky.  It's best to work with the dough while it is still warm.

Divide the dough in half and pop one half back into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap to keep it warm and to stop it from drying out.  Take the other had and roll it using a pasta machine.  Put it through the first (widest) setting a few times (dusting with a little flour and folding into thirds between each roll).  Once it's smooth and elastic, you can start to roll it to make it thinner. Put it through the next setting down (thinner) and so on until you get to the third last setting.  It will be a little thicker than egg pasta.  

Lay the pasta sheet on a floured board and trim the edges.  Cut the sheet in half lengthwise and then into small squares.  I made mine 6cm x 6cm as I find that size easy to work with, but you can make them the size you want, as long as they are square.

Pipe a blob of cheese into the top left-hand corner of each square, fold the bottom right-hand corner over to cover the cheese and press the edges together to create a triangle.  Pick the triangle up and with the points facing up, fold the bottom under (the point will still be facing up).  Take the two long ends at the bottom and wrap them around your index finger and press the ends together to seal.  I'm hoping the photos above help to demonstrate the folding technique (if not, youtube lol).

Place the tortellini on a baking sheet sprinkled with flour.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil.  Drop the tortellini into the boiling water and cook until they rise to the surface.  This will only take a matter of minutes.  Scoop them out using a slotted spoon and gently add them to the pan of melted butter, oil and garlic (Below*). Reserve some of the pasta cooking water.

Make the Sauce:

*Put the butter, oil and garlic into a large frying pan and heat on medium-low. Once the butter has melted and you start to smell the garlic, add the cooked tortellini. Coat the pasta in the flavoured oil, then add the diced tomatoes.  Cook for a further 1 or 2 minutes.  You don't to cook the freshness out of the tomatoes, you just want to warm them.  Season to taste with sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper.  Add a spoonful of the reserved pasta cooking water to emulsify the sauce.

To Serve:

Remove from the heat, sprinkle with grated Parmesan and basil leaves and drizzle with olive oil.

Tortelli Piacentini Stuffed with Roasted Pumpkin and Almonds and Dressed with Brown Butter and Crispy Sage Leaves

Some people find pasta making a chore, but it's like meditation to me.  Mopping the floor is a chore, and there's no delicious payoff at the end of it, unless you eat your dinner off it, of course.




Tortelli Piacentini Stuffed with Roasted Pumpkin and Almonds and Dressed with Brown Butter and Crispy Sage Leaves
Serves 4

For the Dough:
400g "00" flour
4 eggs

For the Filling:
500g pumpkin (I used Kent) unpeeled and cut into thick wedges
Olive oil for greasing
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
30g savoiardi
20g ground almonds
25g fresh breadcrumbs
50g parmesan, finely grated
Nutmeg

For the Dressing:
100g butter
12 sage leaves
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Parmesan, for shaving

Make the Dough:
Put the flour and eggs into a food processor and blitz until it starts to clump.  Turn it out onto a bench and bring it together with your hands.  If the dough it crumbly, add a little water.  If it's sticky, add a little extra flour.  The dough shouldn't stick to your hands or work surface.  Wrap it plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes at room temperature.


Make the Filling:
Preheat the oven to 180C.

Grease a large baking tray and lay the pumpkin wedges on it.  Sprinkle with a little extra oil and roast in the oven for about 45 minutes, until tender.  Set aside to cool completely.

Once cold, put the pumpkin (skin on), mustard powder, savoiardi, almonds, breadcrumbs and parmesan into a food processor and blitz until smooth.  Season to taste with sea salt flakes, freshly ground black pepper and nutmeg.

Spoon the filling into a large piping bag (I use a large zip lock back) and cut a 1cm hole in the tip.  Put it in the refrigerator until needed.

Make the Tortelli:
Divide the dough into 4 portions.  Work with one protion at a time, keeping the rest of the dough covered to prevent it from drying out, and flatten the portion out with a rolling pin.  Feed the dough through the widest setting of a pasta machine 3 times, folding it into three each time.  This processes stretches the gluten in the dough and makes it easier to roll.  Then feed the dough through the next, thinner, setting and continue to do this until it goes through the last and thinnest setting.  You will have a long, thin sheet of pasta.  Flour a work bench and cut the dough into 7.5cm rounds using a cookie cutter.

Pipe a small strip of filling down the centre of each disc of dough, leaving enough room at each end so that the dough covers the filling when folded.

I could try to describe how to fold the pasta, but I found it easier when I was a beginner to watch an expert do it so I used this YouTube video and practiced.  It's actually pretty easy once you get a rhythm going.

Lay the pasta on a couple of flour dusted baking trays and repeat with the remaining portions.

Make the Dressing:
Put a large skillet onto a medium-high heat and add the butter.  Cook the butter until it starts to turn brown and smell nutty.  Add the sage leaves and fry until crisp.  Remove the sage and set them on a piece of kitchen towel. Turn the heat down and keep the brown butter warm.

Cook the Pasta:
Bring a large pan of water to a boil, add a good handful of salt and cook the pasta about 3 minutes or until cooked.  Drain the pasta, reserving some of the pasta cooking water and tip them into the brown butter with a little of the pasta cooking water.  Turn the heat up and add a splash of balsamic vinegar.  Shake the pan to emulsify the dressing, adding more pasta cooking water if needed to make a light sauce and remove from the heat.  Sprinkle with crispy sage leaves and parmesan shavings.

Ricotta and Spinach Tortelli with a Simple Tomato Sauce

Making your own tortelli is a bit of a commitment, so I've paired it with the simplest of sauces to even out the workload.  Having said that,  I admit that I love zoning in on a kitchen task that has my mind completely focused and my hands busy.  It's a kind of meditation where I work out "stuff " as I become one with the dough.  It's a bit of me-time that doesn't involve a manicurist.  My family happily leave me in my pasta zone while I churn out little pillows of loveliness.  It never ceases to amaze me that something that took me hours to make can be wolfed down by my family in a matter of minutes.  It's my own Tibetan sand mandala.



Ricotta and Spinach Tortelli with a Simple Tomato Sauce
Serves 4

For the Pasta Dough:
200g "00" flour, plus extra for dusting
200g fine semolina, plus extra for dusting
4 whole eggs

For the Filling:
500g fresh ricotta
250g baby spinach leaves
100g finely grated Parmesan
1/4 whole nutmeg, grated
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Sauce:
1/4 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
500ml passata
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Bunch basil leaves
Finely grated Parmesan

Make the Pasta Sough:
Put the flour. semolina and eggs into a food processor and blitz until the mixture forms a ball around the blade.  Turn the dough out onto a board sprinkled with a combination of flour and semolina and knead briefly.  Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and leave at room temperature to rest for an hour.

Make the Filling:
Put the spinach into a dry frying pan over medium-low heat.  Cook until it wilts.  It will give off quite a lot of moisture.  Once wilted, drain in a colander.  Allow to cool, then squeeze as much moisture out of it as you can.

In a bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, nutmeg and salt and pepper.  Add the spinach and mix until the spinach is evenly distributed though the cheese.

Make the Sauce:
Put the olive oil into a wide saute pan over medium heat.  Add the garlic and cook until it starts to turn golden at the edges.  Add the passata and cook for 10 -15 minutes, until the sauce darkens and thickens.  Remove from the heat, add the balsamic vinegar, check the seasoning and set aside until you are ready to serve.

Make the Tortelli:
Unwrap the rested pasta dough and cut into four even portions.  Work with one portion at a time, covering the other portions with an up-turned bowl to keep it from drying out.

Dust a work surface with a mixture of flour and semolina.  Flatten the dough out so that you can feed it through the widest setting on a pasta machine.  Roll the dough through the pasta machine, then fold the dough into thirds and feed it back through the widest setting again.  Do this three times in total.  This process develops the gluten in the flour and results in a silky texture.  Keep rolling the dough through the machine, decreasing the setting each time, dusting with a little flour if needed, until you have run it through the thinnest setting.  The dough will be very fine and long.  Cut it half so that you have two sheets of equal length.

Lay one sheet on a dusted work surface.  Dollop heaped teaspoons of filling along the middle of the dough, making sure you leave enough space to have an edge of dough around the filling.  Brush a little water around the filling and lay the other sheet of dough on top.  Press the dough around the filling, being sure to press out any air.  Use a 5cm x 5cm scalloped cookie cutter to cut out each tortelli.  Place the tortelli on some tea towels while you continue working with the remaining dough and filling until they are all done.

Put the sauce back on a low heat.

Put a large pan of water on high heat.  Bring to a rapid boil and add a good palmful of salt.  Cook the tortelli in batches for about 2 minutes, or until they rise to the surface of the water.  Remove them using a slotted spoon and put them straight into the simmering sauce.  Once all the tortelli have been added to the sauce, gently stir to coat them with the sauce, adding more pasta cooking water if the sauce has thickened too much.  Sprinkle with basil leaves and serve with finely grated Parmesan.

Ricotta Gnocchi with Butter Toasted Walnuts and Thyme

I should know better than to expect to get any change out of a batch of gnocchi.  This recipe was meant to serve four, but my two sons who have hollow legs, managed to polish off the lot between them... along with a baguette and a half each.  Looks like I'm having a buttered baguette and for dinner.




Ricotta Gnocchi with Butter Toasted Walnuts and Thyme
adapted from here
Serves 4 hungry people (or 2 bottomless pits)

For the Gnocchi:
500g fresh ricotta, drained
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Sauce:
45g unsalted butter
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon thyme leaves, finely chopped, plus flowers for garnish

Make the Gnocchi:
Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix to combine.  It will come together into a ball of soft dough.  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide into 4 even pieces.  Roll each piece into a long, thin sausage shape, about 2 cm in diameter.  Cut into 1cm lengths.  Lightly roll each dumpling along the tines of a fork to leave indentations.  Place the gnocchi onto a floured baking tray and place in the fridge to chill.

Make the Sauce:
Put all the ingredients except the thyme flowers, into a small saucepan.  Cook over medium heat until the nuts go golden and smell deliciously toasty.  Remove from the heat.  Set aside.

Cook the Gnocchi:
Lightly butter a large serving dish.  Set aside.

Bring a large pan of water to the boil.  Cook the the gnocchi in batches.  Drop a few at a time into the boiling water, being careful not to overcrowd the pan.  Boil for about 2 -3 minutes, or until they rise to the surface.  Remove the with a slotted spoon and put them into the prepared serving dish. Continue until all the gnocchi are cooked.

Once all the gnocchi are cooked, pour the sauce over them and gently stir it through, coating each gnocchi with the buttery sauce.  Sprinkle with thyme flowers and serve.

Radiatori with Roasted Pepper Pesto

 

 

 





When you go to the market and pick up a bag of peppers in midwinter for the price you'd normally pay in midsummer, you know the sun gods are looking after you and that roasted pepper pesto will soon be on the menu. I'll be eating this plate of sunshine with my beanie and mittens on under the grey, winter sky. We can't expect too much of the sun gods in June, can we?


NOTE: You will only need about a cup of the pesto to dress the pasta, which means you will have about a cup leftover. Use leftover pesto with roast chicken or to drizzle on croutons and add to a salad.


Radiatori with Roasted Pepper Pesto
pesto slightly adapted from here
Serves 4

6 large peppers (I used a mix of red and yellow)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 cup roasted natural almonds
1/4 cup coriander leaves or basil leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
500g Radiatori (or another short, ridged or textured pasta)
Freshly grated parmesan for sprinkling
Zest and juice of 1emon

Preheat the oven to 240C. Line a baking tray with foil. Lay the pepper on the tray and roast for about 25 - 30 minutes, until the skins blacken and blister. Remove them from the tray and put them into a heat-proof bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to sweat for 20 minutes. This will make the skins easier to remove.  Once cool, peel the skins away and discard the stems and seeds. Set aside.

Warm the oil in a small saucepan. Add the chopped garlic and the paprika and smoked paprika. Allow them to sizzle for a few second, then remove them from the heal and let them cool slightly.

Put the cooled oil mixture, roasted peppers, almonds, coriander or basil into a blender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Blitz until smooth. Check seasoning and adjust if necessary. Set aside.

Cook the radiatori according to packet instructions. Heat a cup of the pesto in a saucepan over medium heat until warm. Drain the pasta and immediately spoon the pesto over and toss to coat it evenly. Tip the pasta out onto a serving patter, sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan and finely grated zest of a lemon. Finish with a grinding of pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.

 

Pork and Fennel Meatballs with Tomato Sauce and Mafaldine

A day that involves cleaning windows and folding laundry, should end with meatballs and mafaldine, red wine and Borgen. Just sayin'.



Pork and Fennel Meatballs with Tomato Sauce and Mafaldine
adapted from here
Serves 4

For the Tomato Sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2kg tomatoes, passed through a mouli or processed and pushed through a fine sieve
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Sea salt and back pepper

500g mafaldine
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Olive oil, for drizzling

For the Meatballs:
70g (1 cup) fresh soft breadcrumbs
60ml (1/4 cup) milk
2 teaspoon sea salt flakes
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1kg ground pork ( I used pork neck)
1 egg yolk
40g (1/2 cup) finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped thyme leaves
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil for frying

Make the Tomato Sauce:
Heat the oil in a large saute pan. Add the tomatoes, oregano and a little salt and pepper. Cook for about 20 minutes until it starts to darken and get thicker. Remove from the heat, adjust seasoning and set aside and keep warm.

Make the Meatballs:
Put the breadcrumbs into a large mixing bowl and pour over the milk. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Put the sea salt flakes, fennel seeds and chilli flakes into a mortar and pestle and pound until it becomes a fine powder.

Add the salt mixture to the soaked breadcrumbs along with the pork, egg yolk, Parmesan, thyme, garlic and pepper. Mix well until thoroughly combined.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Roll tablespoonfuls of the meatball mixture into balls and cook them in batches in the oil until browned on all sides. As they cook, drop them into the warm tomato sauce. When all the meatballs are brown and added to the sauce, put the sauce back on a low-medium heat. Add the balsamic vinegar and check seasoning. Keep the sauce on a low heat while you get on with boiling your pasta. Use a little of the pasta cooking water to loosen the sauce if it starts to get too thick or too dry.

Cook the Mafaldine:
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the mafaldine and cook according to package directions. Once al dente, lift the pasta out of the water into a warmed serving bowl. Pour the tomato sauce and meatballs over the pasta. Finish with a good grating of Parmesan cheese and drizzle of olive oil.

Fresh Orecchiette with Chorizo and Chickpeas

I get tired of Christmas leftovers really quickly. By Boxing Day I'm like "I don't want to see another slice of turkey until Clark Griswold is choosing his Christmas tree again".  I make Bang Bang Turkey once and then it's "Let's have an orecchiette party". I invite my friends over, pour some drinks, make some dough and get my buddies into help me roll "little ears" of pasta. Many thumbs make light work... or something like that.



Fresh Orecchiette with Chorizo and Chickpeas
adapted from here
Serves 4

For the Orecchiette:
300g Bakers Flour
160g fine semolina
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
170 -200ml lukewarm water

For the Sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 chorizo sausage (about 150g), casing removed and broken into pieces
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 x 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
50g parmesan grated, plus extra for topping the pasta
3 tablespoon finely chopped parsley leaves
200ml single cream
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Make the Orecchiette:
Put the flour, semolina and salt into a bowl and stir to combine, Make a well in the centre and pour in the water, Using your hands, mix until the mixture comes together into a shaggy dough. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead for about 5 minutes until it is a smooth dough. Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Cut the dough into six even portions and, working with one portion at a time, roll it out into a long log about 1cm in diameter, then cut it into 2mm thick discs. Press each disc firmly with your thumb, rolling it on the bench to create a "little ear" shape. Place the orecchiette on baking trays sprinkled with semolina and leave to dry for an hour before cooking.

Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add a generous handful of salt and boil the orecchiette for about 3 minutes, or until al dente.

Make the Sauce:
Put the pieces of chorizo and the garlic into a food processor and blitz until it's a rough crumble.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the chorizo and garlic and fry over medium heat until starting to go slightly golden. Add the chickpeas and cream and cook until the cream thickens slightly. Remove from the heat, add the parmesan and parsley and stir to combine. Tip the cooked orechiette into the sauce and stir. Add a little of the pasta cooking water if it seems a little dry. Serve with extra parmesan at the table.