Fresh Pasta Sheets For Tortelli Di Ricotta Recipes

TORTELLI DI RICOTTA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Prepare an ice-water bath and set aside. Add spinach to boiling water and cook until bright green and tender, about 1 minute. Drain and immediately transfer to ice-water bath to cool; drain and, using your hands, squeeze as much liquid out of the spinach as possible.
• Coarsely chop spinach and transfer to a large bowl. Add ricotta, 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, eggs, and nutmeg; mix until well combined. Season with salt and pepper and set filling aside until cool.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly dust baking sheet and work surface with flour; set baking sheet aside. Place 1 sheet of pasta on prepared work surface and trim to a 6-by-18-inch rectangle. Cut rectangle in half horizontally and then vertically into 3-inch strips to make 12 squares. Repeat process with remaining pasta sheets.
• Place 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of one pasta square. Lightly brush edges with water and cover with a second pasta square. Press down on pasta squares to seal, making sure to press out all of the air; trim edges with a fluted cutter and transfer to prepared baking sheet. Repeat pasta with remaining filling and pasta squares to make tortelli.
• Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon butter with olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add squash and cook until softened. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add tortelli to boiling water and cook until they rise to the surface, 2 to 3 minutes.
• In a large skillet, melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter over medium-high heat. Continue cooking until butter just turns golden brown. Remove from heat and add sage leaves.
• Drain tortelli, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking water. Add tortelli and squash to skillet and toss to coat, adding pasta water, 1 tablespoon at a time, as necessary. Sprinkle with cheese and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper; serve immediately.

FRESH PASTA SHEETS FOR TORTELLI DI RICOTTA

Steps:

• Mound flour in center of a large work surface, and make a well in the middle. Beat eggs, olive oil, and salt in a small bowl and pour into well.
• Using a fork, slowly incorporate flour, beginning with outer rim of well. When flour is incorporated, gather dough together to form a rounded mass. Lightly flour work surface and hands, and begin kneading dough with the palms of your hands until no longer wet and sticky.
• Lightly flour work surface; knead dough until smooth and elastic, 3 to 5 minutes. Continue kneading 4 minutes more, dusting work surface and hands with flour as necessary. Divide dough in half and flatten each half into a small rectangle. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature.
• Set the rollers of a hand-cranked or electric pasta machine at their widest opening. Working with one piece of dough at a time, run dough once through the machine. Remove and lightly dust with flour. Fold the dough in thirds, like a book, pressing down with your fingers, and run through the machine again. Repeat this step at least two more times, dusting lightly with flour if needed, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
• Now change the rollers of the pasta machine to the next decreasing setting, and roll out the dough once without folding. Keep rolling the sheet through the machine on decreasing settings until you have rolled it through the last (thinnest) setting. Cut the pasta strip into 18-inch sheets. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let stand for 30 minutes. Repeat process with remaining piece of dough.
• Run each sheet of pasta through the narrowest setting of the pasta machine two more times each. Keep covered until ready to use.

FRESH PASTA SHEETS

Steps:

• To make dough in a processor:
• Blend flour, eggs, salt, and 2 tablespoons water in a food processor until mixture just begins to form a ball, adding more water, drop by drop, if dough is too dry (dough should be firm and not sticky). Process dough for 15 seconds more to knead it. Transfer to a floured surface and let stand, covered with an inverted bowl, 1 hour to let the gluten relax and make rolling easier.
• To make dough by hand:
• Mound flour on a work surface, preferably wooden, and make a well in center. Add eggs, salt, and 2 tablespoons water to well. With a fork, gently beat eggs and water until combined. Gradually stir in enough flour to form a paste, pulling in flour closest to egg mixture and being careful not to make an opening in outer wall of well. Knead remaining flour into mixture with your hands to form a dough, adding more water drop by drop if dough is too dry (dough should be firm and not sticky). Knead dough until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Cover with an inverted bowl and let stand 1 hour to let the gluten relax and make rolling easier.
• Roll pasta:
• Divide dough into 8 pieces, then flatten each piece into a rough rectangle and cover rectangles with an inverted large bowl. Set rollers of pasta machine on widest setting.
• Lightly dust 1 rectangle with flour and feed through rollers. (Keep remaining rectangles under bowl.) Fold rectangle in half and feed it, folded end first, through rollers 7 or 8 more times, folding it in half each time and feeding folded end through. Dust with flour if necessary to prevent sticking. Turn dial to next (narrower) setting and feed dough through rollers without folding. Continue to feed dough through rollers once at each setting, without folding, until you reach narrowest setting. Dough will be a smooth sheet (about 36 inches long and 4 inches wide). Cut sheet crosswise in half. Lay sheets of dough on lightly floured baking sheets to dry until leathery but still pliable, about 15 minutes. (Alternatively, lightly dust pasta sheets with flour and hang over the backs of straight-backed chairs to dry.) Roll out remaining pieces of dough in same manner.