Rotolo Di Pasta Recipes

SPINACH & RICOTTA ROTOLO

Steps:

• Begin by making the Simple tomato sauce, heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the garlic clove and cook until just softened. Add the chopped tomatoes and season. Cook slowly for 25 mins, stirring now and then, until very thick. Do this a day or two ahead of assembling the rotolo, or freeze it for up to 2 months.
• Wilt the spinach in a pan over a medium heat, then leave to cool. Squeeze well to remove the excess water, then roughly chop the spinach. Season and leave to cool completely.
• Gently fry the garlic in the butter until softened, then remove from the heat and add the marjoram. Tip into a bowl and add the spinach, ricotta and Parmesan.
• Roll out the pasta (see step-by-step images). Cut the sheets into 3 or 4 pieces, each roughly 40cm long, and place them on a white tea towel. Using a little water and a pastry brush, stick the sheets together, allowing a 1cm overlap.
• Using a spatula, spread the filling over the pasta as evenly as possible, leaving a 1cm border around the edge.
• Fold over the edge of the pasta nearest to you and, using the tea towel and the weight of the pasta, roll it away from you like you would a Swiss roll.
• Brush the open edge of the pasta with a little water and press together to seal.
• Wrap the pasta roll tightly in the tea towel and tie a piece of string round it every 10cm or so (or use a butcher's knot - see step-by-step images). Tie the ends with string to secure them, leaving a long piece of string at each end to act as a handle.
• Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil (a fish kettle is ideal, but a deep roasting tin filled with water works well too) and cook the rotolo for 20 mins. Remove from the water and leave to cool. Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5.
• Gently unwrap the rotolo and cut it into 3cm slices. Arrange the slices in a baking dish. Spoon over the Simple tomato sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan and drizzle with a little olive oil. Bake for 15 mins until the pasta is hot and crisping around the edges.

ROTOLO DI PASTA RIPIENO

Steps:

• Place flour in a bowl and make a well in the centre, crack eggs into well, then mix with a fork until a dough starts to form.
• Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (3-5 minutes). Wrap in plastic wrap and set aside to rest (30 minutes-1 hour). Meanwhile, prepare chicory, spinach and ricotta filling.
• Divide dough into three and, working with one piece at a time, feed and roll through the rollers of a pasta machine at the widest setting until dough is smooth and silky, then fold and roll, reducing settings notch by notch, until dough is 5mm thick. Place pasta sheet onto a floured surface and repeat with remaining dough, overlapping sheets slightly to form one large rectangle.
• Scatter filling over pasta, leaving a 3cm space at the end.
• Roll pasta away from you to form a log.
• Wrap rotolo in a fine-weave tea towel and tie securely at intervals with kitchen string.
• Cook rotolo in a very wide saucepan or fish kettle of simmering water over medium heat until cooked through (30 minutes).
• Carefully remove from pan, unwrap, thickly slice and serve with marjoram and thyme brown butter.