Rich And Tender Homemade Pasta Dough ~ Zesty Cheese Tortellini

Rich & Tender Homemade Pasta Dough

Spend the afternoon leisurely rolling out your own homemade pasta. It’s a process well worth the time and effort. This basic recipe can be used for traditional shapes like spaghetti, linguine and pappardelle nests or used as a base for making stuffed shapes like our Zesty Cheese Tortellini (recipe follows). You’ll need a pasta roller for this endeavor.

Ingredients:

2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) kosher salt
3 eggs
1 yolk
Semolina or all-purpose flour, for dusting                                                

Directions                                                                                      Whirl flour with salt in a food processor. Add eggs and yolk. Whirl just until mixed and crumbly. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Bring dough together, kneading into a fairly smooth ball and forming into a flattened round disc. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Let rest 30 minutes at room temperature.

 Cut disc into four equal pieces. Work with one piece at a time, rewrapping the rest tightly with plastic wrap. Using your hands, shape that piece into a small, flattened disc. Dust pasta dough and pasta roller with flour. Using the widest setting on pasta roller, roll out dough 2 or 3 times. Continue to feed the sheet through the roller, reducing the thickness of each round until you have a very long piece about 1/16-inch (1-mm) thick (ideally 6 or 7 on the pasta roller or thinner). Cover with plastic wrap then a dampened cloth (not too wet). Repeat with remaining pieces of dough.                                      

Cut into long spaghetti or linguine noodles by hand-cutting to your desired thickness. Or roll through a noodle attachment to your preferred width, dusting with flour periodically. Hang dry noodles on a pasta rack. (If you don’t have one, try using your oven door handle.) Let dry 10 to 15 minutes before cooking.

To cook, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt until it tastes like the sea, approximately 1 to 2 tbsp (15 to 30 mL) kosher salt. Gently add pasta, swirling with a wooden spoon to separate the noodles. Boil until pasta is al dente; this usually happens once pasta floats to the surface, about 1 to 3 minutes. Drain well before tossing with sauce.    Makes 1 lb (455 g) pasta for 4 servings

 Zesty Cheese Tortellini  

You will not regret taking the time to treat yourself and others to these pillowy delights. Make a day of it, whipping up the dough and carefully shaping before cooking. Or spread out the work by making the pasta dough and filling the day before, and shaping on the day of cooking. Enjoy with your favourite sauce or try it in our Brussels Sprouts & Crispy, Spicy Crumbs Linguine in place of linguine. Or turn our Umami Brodo with Parmesan & Porcini into a main course by adding the tortellini to the final dish. If you have extra filling, serve over toast with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of fresh herbs.  Recipes will follow tomorrow for Brussels Sprouts, & Crispy, Spicy Crumbs Linguini and also Umami Brodo With Parmesan and Porcini.
 
Filling
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) traditional ricotta
1/2 cup (125 mL) freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tsp (10 mL) freshly grated lemon zest
1 tsp (5 mL) kosher salt or 1/4 tsp (1 mL) table salt
Generous pinch nutmeg
1 recipe of Rich & Tender Homemade Pasta Dough, rolled into sheets and prepared up until Step 2
All-purpose or semolina flour for dusting                                              Directions:
Stir ricotta with Parmigiano- Reggiano, zest, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Working quickly, spread out one sheet of prepared pasta dough and cut into 3-inch (8-cm) squares.

 Over one square of dough, dollop 1 tsp (5 mL) filling near one corner of square. Dampen edges along entire square. Pull diagonally opposite corner up and over filling so you have a triangle. Press around the filling so that there are no air pockets, and edges are sealed and lined up as best you can. Fold edges up and around filling without pressing too firmly. There should be a little breathing room between that folded edge and the filling. Cross the two corners by wrapping triangle around your finger and seal by dampening with a little water and pressing two edges together. The shapes don’t need to be perfect. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough and filling setting tortellini on a lightly dusted baking sheet and covering with plastic wrap. These can be made just a couple of hours in advance of cooking. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
 
To cook, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt until it tastes like the sea, approximately 1 to 2 tbsp (15 to 30 mL) kosher salt. Gently add pasta, swirling with a wooden spoon to separate the pasta. Boil until al dente (this is usually reached when pasta floats to the surface of the water), about 1 to 3 minutes. Drain well before tossing with sauce or adding to soup.
Makes 48 tortellini and herbal notes that pair