Tortelloni With Meat Filling Recipes

CLASSIC MEAT TORTELLINI WITH TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Make the filling: Add 3 tablespoons olive oil to a large cast-iron pan set over medium-high heat. Crumble in ground beef and pork and reduce heat to medium. Using the edge of a metal spoon, break up clumps of meat as they form, stirring regularly. Once the meat is evenly broken up, continue to cook, stirring only occasionally, until all of the water has evaporated and the cooking sounds change from steaming to sizzling, about 7 to 8 minutes.
• As the meat begins to brown, clear a spot in the center of the pan and add 1 tablespoon olive oil and the garlic. Cook the garlic until it starts to release an aroma, about 20 seconds, then stir it into the meat and cook another 30 seconds or so. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
• In the bowl of a food processor, combine meat mixture, mortadella, Parmesan, parsley, nutmeg, cloves, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper. Pulse to combine, then taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Add eggs and pulse, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, until the mixture is smooth and tacky. Cover and refrigerate until you're ready to assemble ravioli.
• Make the tomato sauce: Pour tomatoes and their juices into a medium bowl and use your hands to crush them. Pour 1/4 cup water into the can and swirl, then add to tomatoes. Set aside.
• Set a small Dutch oven or similar pot over medium-high heat and add 3 tablespoons olive oil. When it shimmers, add onion and a generous pinch of salt. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender and golden brown, about 10 minutes.
• Move onions to the edges of the pot and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add garlic and allow it to gently sizzle, about 20 seconds. Before the garlic has a chance to start browning, stir it into the onions and add tomatoes. Season with salt and oregano or basil and bring to a hard simmer. Stir, then reduce heat to low and cover pot (to prevent splattering). Cook, stirring occasionally, for 40 minutes or until raw tomato taste is gone. (Tomato sauce can be made up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated.)
• Shape the tortellini: Place a sheet of pasta on your workspace and dust off any excess flour. One sheet at a time, cut the pasta into 2 1/2-inch squares, or use a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter to cut rounds from the pasta sheets. As you cut or punch, stack and store the pieces under a lightly dampened dish towel or in a plastic bag to keep them from drying out.
• On a clean work counter, lay out about 15 pasta rounds or squares at a time, and spoon rounded teaspoonfuls of filling onto the pasta, just off center. Use a spray bottle or wet pastry brush to lightly dampen the edges of the pasta.
• One at a time, pick up a piece of pasta and fold in half over the filling, squeezing out air bubbles as you press the dough around the filling with dry fingers to seal the tortellino. If you're working with circles, you'll be left with a half-moon shape. If using squares, fold corner-to-corner to form a triangle.
• Holding a tortellino in one hand, use your other index finger to gently poke an indent into the center of its base (the bottom of the filling). Folding the tortellino around the indent, draw both of its bottom corners together as if forming a fortune cookie. Overlap the corners and press to seal them together.
• Toss lightly with semolina flour, then lay out in a single layer on the second prepared baking sheet. Continue with remaining pasta and filling.
• Finish the tomato sauce and cook the pasta: Set a large pot filled with 5 quarts of water over high heat, cover, and bring to a boil. Add 6 tablespoons fine sea salt or 1/2 cup kosher salt. Drop 48 tortellini into the water and stir.
• Remove the sauce from heat and stir in 1/4 cup olive oil. Pass sauce through a food mill or use a stick blender to puree. Taste and adjust salt as needed. Set a large frying pan with curved edges on the stove over low heat. Add 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce and bring to a simmer.
• When the tortellini are cooked, about 3 to 4 minutes, use a spider or skimmer to lift them out, shake off excess water, and place directly into the pan of sauce. Toss and swirl tortellini in sauce until they are all evenly covered. If the sauce is too thick, add pasta water 1 teaspoon at a time to loosen. The sauce should cling to the pasta without appearing to seize. Serve immediately with grated Parmesan.

RAVIOLI WITH MEAT FILLING

Steps:

• Scramble the hamburger meat until done.
• Add all the dry seasonings and gently heat for a few minutes.
• Heat until you get a nice aroma of all the herbs.
• Remove from heat and cool.
• Mix all of the cheeses into the meat.
• It should be a dry dense mixture that will hold together when you form a ball.
• Use a tablespoon or teaspoon for the filling of each ravioli.
• If you don't want to make the pasta dough yourself, you can always use the wonton wrappers.
• They work well.
• Once the ravioli have been assembled they only need to cook a few minutes.

THREE MEAT CANNELLONI BAKE

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet. Add onion, celery, and carrot, and cook over moderate heat until softened. Add the garlic, and cook 1 minute. Add veal, pork, and beef. Cook, stirring occasionally, until meat is no longer pink. Add wine, and reduce for 1 minute. Stir in broth. Add herbs, bay leaf, and salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Uncover, and reduce until almost dry. Discard bay leaf. Set aside to cool.
• Meanwhile, melt the butter or margarine in a saucepan set over moderately low heat. Whisk in flour for approximately 2 minutes. Whisk in milk, grated nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until thickened. Stir in parsley and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.
• Transfer the cooled meat mixture to a large bowl. Mix in egg yolks. Mix in the cheese and parsley sauce. Set aside.
• Combine the tomato sauce and cream, set aside.
• Cut the pasta sheets crosswise into 5 inch lengths. In a pot of boiling salted water, cook the noodles a few at a time until al dente. This should take only a minute or two with fresh pasta. Transfer to a bowl of cold water. Spread the noodles in one layer on paper towels to drain.
• Spoon 1/4 cup of the filling down the center of one noodle, and roll the noodle to enclose the filing. Transfer the cannelloni, seam side down, to a well buttered gratin dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and filling, arranging in single layer. Ladle the tomato sauce over the cannelloni, and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.
• Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 10 minutes, or until bubbling. Run under the broiler about 4 inches from the heat for 2 minutes, or until golden.

TORTELLONI WITH MEAT FILLING

Steps:

• First prepare the filling: heat the butter and oil in a heavy skillet and add the garlic. Cook briefly and add the celery, onion and carrot. Cook briefly, stirring.
• Add the squares of meat and cook, turning the pieces often, until browned on all sides. Cook over moderately high heat about 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper, sage, marjoram, thyme, rosemary and wine, and continue cooking, turning the pieces of meat often, about 40 minutes.
• Remove and cut the meat into 1-inch cubes. Blend the cubes with the remaining sauce in the skillet. Grind the mixture, using a meat grinder or a food processor. Do not grind too fine if using a processor.
• Scrape the mixture into a bowl, and add one of the eggs, lightly beaten, the cheese, nutmeg, parsley and cream. Add salt and pepper. Blend well. There should be about 3 1/2 cups.
• Prepare and roll out the pasta as indicated in the pasta recipe. There will be two portions. Brush the top of one portion with the remaining egg, lightly beaten.
• Use about 1 1/2 teaspoons of filling for each tortelloni. Shape that amount into a small round ball, and place it on the pasta. Continue making balls, and arrange them symmetrically in 3 rows about 2 inches apart. There should be a total of about 60 balls.
• Place the other layer of pasta on top of the meatballs. Gently but firmly press between the balls to make the second layer of dough adhere to the first. Using a ravioli or pastry cutter, cut between each filled pasta to produce squares. Sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal and arrange the tortelloni on it. Let them stand for at least 15 minutes.
• When ready to cook, bring 4 to 6 quarts of water to the boil. Add salt to taste, if desired. Drop the tortelloni into the boiling water. When the water returns to a boil, cook about 2 minutes, until the pasta reaches the desired degree of tenderness. Serve with meat and wild mushroom sauce (see recipe).

CHICKEN (OR MUSHROOM OR TOFU) TORTELLINI FILLING

Steps:

• Heat butter in a frying pan, add chicken (or tofu or mushrooms or whatever) until golden brown, then drain.
• Process this in food processor (along with the pancetta, if you choose to include it) until finely chopped.
• Transfer to bowl and add cheese, nutmeg, egg and salt and pepper to taste.
• Fill pasta and seal edges with egg whites (use a pastry brush to apply this, or your impeccably clean hands).

CHEESE TORTELLONI

Steps:

• Make the pasta dough: In the bowl of a food processor, combine eggs and flour; process until the dough comes together. Run the processor for 5 minutes to start kneading the dough. Transfer the dough to a clean work surface, and knead 4 to 5 minutes. The dough should be soft and smooth and should not stick to your fingers when you pinch it. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, and let stand 30 minutes.
• Make the filling: Heat a small saute pan over medium heat. Add olive oil and shallots; saute shallots until translucent, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl; add ricotta, goat cheese, lemon zest, tarragon, parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix until well combined.
• Divide dough into three pieces. Using a pasta machine, roll out dough until very thin. Use as little extra flour as possible to keep from sticking. Place sheet on a lightly floured surface; use a pastry wheel to cut sheet into 4-inch squares. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling in center of each square. Brush edges lightly with water. Fold into a triangle; seal, eliminating any air inside. Pull the two corners on the folded side together; attach with a little water. Brush off excess flour with a dry brush.
• Place tortelloni on a tray generously dusted with semolina; chill, covered tightly with plastic wrap, until ready to use.

TORTELLINI WITH MEAT FILLING

Steps:

• Melt butter in a small skillet. When butter foams, add pork. Sauté over medium heat until light golden. Add wine. Reduce heat and cook covered 10 to 12 minutes. Put pork mixture and all other ingredients, except cream, in a blender or food processor. Blend to a paste. If mixture is too dry, add cream. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate. Prepare Basic Egg Pasta Dough. Cut a small piece of dough and work through the pasta machine until you have a very thin sheet of pasta. Cut pasta into 2-inch circles using a small glass or cookie cutter. Put 1/2 teaspoon filling in the center of each circle. Fold circles in half and press firmly to seal edges to make tortellini. Bend each tortellini around your finger, pressing 1 pointed end over the other. Repeat with remaining dough, rolling out and filling, 1 sheet of pasta at a time. Dust 2 or 3 large plates or trays with flour. Place tortellini on plates or trays. Turn tortellini over every couple of hours, until completely dry. Refrigerate uncovered until ready to use. Prepare desired sauce. Fill a very large saucepan two-thirds full with salted water. Bring water to a boil. Add tortellini. Bring water back to a boil and cook tortellini uncovered until tender but firm to the bite. Drain tortellini and place in skillet with sauce. Add 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese. Toss tortellini and sauce over low heat until sauce coats tortellini, 20 to 30 seconds. Serve immediately with additional Parmesan cheese.