Pumpkin Pasta

Recipe for Tortelli from Angela Hartnett's Cucina

Jul 31, 2007 Rebecca Ford

This recipe for pumpkin pasta comes from celebrity chef Angela Hartnett's new cookery book Cucina: Three Generations of Italian Family Cooking

Pumpkin tortelli are a speciality pasta of Mantua in Lombardy. If you can’t get hold of pumpkin, use butternut squash or sweet potato instead. Start this recipe the day before you want to eat it.

Click here to order Angela Hartnett's Cucina (pub Ebury Press, £25)

Ingredients – serves 4-6

½ pumpkin (about 2kg), seeded and cut into wedges

100g Parmesan, freshly grated

100g Mustard fruits, chopped (see Mustard fruits recipe)

1 quantity Pasta dough (see below)

2-3 amaretti biscuits, crushed

salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the sage butter

200ml Vegetable stock

100g butter

12 fresh sage leaves

Method

To make the pasta dough

(makes 600g)

400g ‘00’ pasta flour

½ tsp salt

4 eggs

1 tbsp olive oil

Mix the flour and salt together and tip on to a work surface or board. Make a well in the centre. Mix together the eggs and oil and pour two-thirds into the well, reserving the rest. Starting from the outside, work the flour into the liquid until a dough forms.

The dough is conditioned by its environment, so depending on the warmth of your kitchen and hands, you may need to add the remaining egg mixture if the dough doesn’t come together. Knead until it is smooth, firm and elastic (this will take 5-10 minutes).

Wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for 1 hour before using. The dough will keep for up to 24 hours in the fridge if wrapped tightly first in cling film and then in foil.

To make the pumpkin tortelli

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas Mark 4. Arrange the pumpkin wedges in a roasting tin and sprinkle with rock salt. Cover the tin with foil and cook in the oven for 45-50 minutes, or until tender when pierced with the point of a knife.

2. Remove from the oven, allow to cool enough to handle, then scrape the pumpkin flesh from the skin. Place the flesh in a muslin cloth or a fine sieve and hang overnight above a bowl in a cool place to drain off all the excess liquid.

Place the pumpkin in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the Parmesan and mustard fruits and season. Pulse-blend to combine.

3. Roll out and cut up the pasta dough (cut into 3-4 pieces, use a rolling pin to flatten a piece to the width of your pasta machine. Run it twice through the narrowest notch. Using a serrated pastry wheel, cut into a long strip 10cm wide.)

4. Put 1 heaped teaspoon of filling at 2cm intervals along each strip of pasta. Fold over the long side of pasta nearest to you. Cup your hand and carefully press down around each mound to get all the air out. Using a serrated pastry wheel, cut out individual tortelli about 3cm square.

5. At this stage you can par-cook them to use later. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and blanch the tortelli in it for 30 seconds. Drain and plunge immediately into iced water. Remove and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Drizzle with a little olive oil and then cover with cling film. The tortelli can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours.

6. Place the stock and butter in a pan and bring to the boil over a medium heat, whisking vigorously to stop the mixture splitting. Add the sage leaves and a little seasoning just before serving.

7. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the tortelli and cook for 3 minutes. Drain and serve, drizzled with the sage butter and with the amaretti crumbs sprinkled on top.

The copyright of the article Pumpkin Pasta in Italian Cuisine is owned by Rebecca Ford. Permission to republish Pumpkin Pasta in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

pumpkin tortelli