Autumn is in the air. Well, completely normal since we are already at the beginning of the season. A season which I love despite I am already missing the summer so much. But it’s pumpkin season! One of my favourite veggies. I love to prepare everything with them: cakes, salads, soups… and especially this Tortelli filled with delicious squash from the farmer’s market! It’s so yummy that I could eat this dish every single day!
Thomas prepared them once this week so I decided to join him the second day and take my camera too to add a new pasta recipe to the blog.
In Italy, these are really typical when autumn arrives. I remember to order them frequently when I went to restaurants while I lived in Bologna. The best part of this recipe is that it’s so easy that if you are already making fresh pasta at home, you will probably start to prepare it with pumpkin too.
Any squash will work: butternut, Spanish pumpkin, Italian (Zucca mantovana) but be sure to use one as tasty as possible.
INGREDIENTS for 4 people
For the pasta
360 gr pasta flour
4 medium-size eggs (European standards 53 gr each egg)
For the filling
280 gr peeled squash
55 gr ricotta cheese
30 gr Parmigiano Reggiano grated
1 yolk
Salt, black pepper and nutmeg to taste
For the
1 tsp unsalted butter
Fresh sage leaves
METHOD
Cut the squash into pieces and bake it to 150ºC (300ºF) for 55 minutes at the lowest part of the oven.
Let’s prepare the pasta now. Over a flat surface put the flour, make a well in the center and crack the eggs into it. Using the tips of your fingers, mix until everything is well-combined.
Push the dough down and out with the heels of the hands. With each movement, turn it. You want to get a tender, elastic and non-sticky dough. The more you work with it, the more air this will have. After 15 minutes, your dough will be porous, elastic and lump-free.
If very sticky, lightly dust the surface with a couple of teaspoons of flour. Wrap it in clingfilm and let it rest for about 30 minutes at room temperature (or 12 hours max).
Now remove the squash from the oven and allow to cool. Then blend half of it with the rest of the ingredients. The other half place it in a dish and crush it with a fork, join both mixtures and fill a pastry bag with it.
Now, knead your dough with your hands using a rolling pin to roll your pasta. Roll out into a circle by stretching as well as pressing down. Stretch the dough by rolling a quarter way back onto the pin and gently pushing the pin away from you. Turn the disc a quarter turn and repeat. Do this twice more.
Cut the dough into squares, place some mix from the pastry bag in the middle and fold it to take the form of a tortelli. Then, bring the water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for about 3 minutes or until they rise to the surface.
How to close the past to have a tortelli? Look at this video I made of my husband closing them.
Buon appetito!!
Photography & Stylism: Carlota Fariña
Recipe by: Thomas Pinna
More on Instagram: @carlotafarina
