After my pasta masterclass at the wonderful Giacobazzis deli, I went straight home to put my newly learned skills into practise. Well, its clear that I would never make the grade in a professional kitchen, but the results were tasty enough. The stuffing was pungent with a slight crunch. The tortelloni didnt split and had a nice al dente chew about it.
We could have eaten it on its own, or with a little butter and Parmesan, but instead I made a sweet tomato sauce with santini tomatoes from my local supermarket (though cherry tomatoes would work just as well).
For the tortelloni (check out the Giacobazzis pasta masterclass here)
200g tipo 00 flour
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
For the stuffing
180g Gorgonzola Piccante (thats the strong stuff)
180g Ricotta cheese
50g walnuts, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
Good grinding of freshly ground black pepper
For the sweet tomato sauce
Punnet of Santini or Cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp Mascarpone cheese
1 tbsp grated Parmesan
To garnish
2-3 sage leaves, finely sliced
1. To make the sauce, put the tomatoes, vinegar, sugar and salt in a slow cooker and cook on LOW for 2 hours, until the tomatoes have completely broken down. If you dont have a slow cooker you could do this in a pan on the hob on the lowest possible heat for 1 hour.
2. Transfer to a small saucepan and heat on the hob. Add the Mascarpone and Parmesan and stir through. Cook for 5 mins to reduce and thicken the sauce. Set aside until you need it.
3. Make the stuffing by putting all the stuffing ingredients in a bowl and mixing thoroughly.
4. Make the pasta according to these instructions.
5. Cut the pasta sheets into 10cm x 10cm squares and add a teaspoon of stuffing mixture to each square.
6. Follow these instructions to make your tortelloni. By the end youll have about 20 tortelloni (of different shapes and sizes, in my case!)
7. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook for 4-5 mins, until the pasta is al dente (firm, not flabby). You can test this by removing one tortelloni from the water to test.
8. Drain the tortelloni and transfer to plates.
9. Heat the tomato sauce and drizzle over the pasta.
