I have never been a self described "stuffed pasta" person. However, as I now sit with an unimaginable amount of time on my hands (and I admittedly love a long, mindless kitchen task like rolling dough and cutting little circles and folding them into lil tortellini) I have begun to foray into the world of stuffing my own pastas.
I am a big fan of Pasta Social Club and I use her basic dough recipe, which you can find here. I made the egg dough last week and froze half which I then reconstituted by placing the chunk of dough (still wrapped in plastic wrap) in a bowl of warm water for about 30 minutes. My first attempt at stuffed pasta I made scarpinocc with chanterelle mushrooms and although the flavor was great but the dough was a bit chewy (too thick) and they were a little bit under-filled, leaving me with gaps in the dumplings when you took a bite.
My second attempt, which is described here, was a lot more successful. I made the dough slightly wetter and rolled it out much thinner. I also added almost twice the amount of filling into each tortellini. This is a little nerve-wracking and messier because as you pinch them closed, some of the filling will squeeze out. I was very worried this would make my babies open when they were boiling but as long as I pinched the the edges hard enough, I actually had no spillage while cooking!
With this all said, you 100% can (and should, if you don't have the time to roll out the dough yourself) make this recipe with store bought wonton wrappers. Both the square and round wrappers will work and will make this job much simpler.
As for the "brodo", which just means broth, I used my classic chicken stock (which I promise I will one day post the recipe for but today is not that day). I have two different chicken stocks that I make. Neither has an actual recipe and they are both a little different every time I make them, depending on what veggies I have on hand. Classic chicken stock is just a collection of roast chicken bones/ giblets with carrots, onion, etc. DELUXE chicken stock is a little bit more expensive to make and I will do it for a special occasion. It entails roasting a whole chicken with veggies, then placing that WHOLE CHICKEN in a pot with water and veggies and simmering for a few hours. It is incredible and worth it. For both of these, I roast all my ingredients first, never putting raw chicken/ veggies in the pot. Once the roast chicken has been cooked for hours, the meat is flavorless and is good for feeding to your dog but not good for much else.
This particular iteration of stock had leeks and parsnips in it, which I believe is what gave it the dark color. Store bough chicken stock is totally fine, but I would recommend fortifying it by cooking it down with some onions, carrots, any chicken bones you have, and maybe a few cloves of garlic.
The "alla Parmesano" part of this recipe comes from cooking Parmesan cheese in the broth so it gets nice and cheesy and salty. Always save (in the freezer) your Parm rinds but if you are out, as I was in this case, ask your local cheese monger and they will sell you a bunch of rinds for cheap.
Ingredients: (makes 3 servings of about 6 tortellini each):
about 10 oz of egg pasta dough OR 22 wonton wrappers
flour for dusting
1 quart chicken stock
3-4 Parmesan cheese rinds
For Filling:
4 tbsp ricotta cheese
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg yolk
1 tsp minced sage
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tbsp chanterelle or other mushrooms, chopped finely and sautéed
S&P
Method:
Follow instructions for making and rolling out your pasta dough, if choosing to do it by hand. Once you have rolled it as thin as you can (without tearing the dough), begin your filling. If you are using store bought wrappers, begin the filling now.
In a bowl, combine ricotta, Parm, egg yolk, sage, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and sautéed mushrooms. Whip with a fork.
Transfer the mixture into a ziplock bag and, once you have cut your rounds (I use a jar lid to achieve this as I don't have cookie cutters for some reason), snip the corner off of the baggie so you can pipe.
Squeeze about 1 tbsp into the center of the round. You may need to adjust the amount based on the size and thickness of your circles. Dip your finger in water and trace a thin line around 1/2 of the outer edge of the circle, then fold into a semi circle around the filling, pinching the dough tightly. If some filling squeezes out, that is okay, just save it for the next one.
Working slowly to avoid tearing the dough, pull the two corners of the semicircle together and pinch one on top of the other, forming the tortellini shape. The same general principal applies if you are using a square piece of dough, but you fold into a triangle instead of a semicircle.
6. At this point, the tortellini can be stored in an airtight plastic container in the fridge for 24 hrs or in the freezer for up to two weeks. You do not need to return to room temp before cooking.
7. About 1 -2 hours before eating, bring stock to a simmer and place Parm rinds into the pot to cook down.
8. When ready to eat, bring the stock with rinds to a boil and gently place tortellini into bubbling stock.
9. Return lid to bring back to boil and then remove lid. Continue you cooking for about 4-5 more minutes, until all the tortellini are floating. For extra luxury, place a few thinly sliced raw chanterelles into broth at the same time as the tortellini and serve with soup. Most recipes will tell you to discard the parm broths but not this bitch. Eat em!
コメント