Cucina
By Gennaro Contaldo
Not Too Tricky
serves 4
About the recipe
In the Italian kitchen, al magro refers to dishes that are made simply and without any meat. Al magro dishes were popular to eat on Fridays and during Lent when meat was forbidden for religious reasons; some families still observe this rule today. A filled pasta with local greens and cheese, like this one, which is a classic dish of northern Italy, would have been considered such a dish, as it is made with a few readily available ingredients.
Recipe From
Ingredients
FOR THE PASTA DOUGH
200g (7oz) plain flour, keep some aside for dusting
2 eggs
FOR THE FILLING
400g (14oz) frozen spinach, defrosted
100g (3½oz) fresh ricotta, drained
25g (1oz) grated Parmesan cheese or vegetarian hard cheese, plus extra to serve (10g)
FOR THE SAUCE
100g (3½oz) salted butter
8 sage leaves, leaves picked (10g)
Top Tip
HELPFUL HINTS
— As eggs vary in size, if you find you need extra liquid to bring your dough together fully, simply add a splash of water.
— If you find the dough has dried a little too much to seal together easily, using your finger, brush the outer edge of each disc with a little water.
— If you are working with sections of the dough, keep any you’re not immediately using under the damp cloth.
Method
- First make the pasta dough. Place the flour in a mixing bowl or in a heap on a clean work surface, make a well in the centre and break in the eggs. Using a fork, gradually mix the flour and eggs together, then knead with your hands to make a smooth dough. Shape into a ball, cover with a clean, damp tea towel and leave to rest for about 30 minutes, or until required.
- In the meantime, prepare the filling. Squeeze any excess liquid from your defrosted spinach (the drier this is, the better). Finely chop the spinach and combine it with the ricotta, grated Parmesan and a little salt and pepper. Set aside.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pasta dough until it is wafer-thin. Cut out 8cm (4¼in) circles of dough using a round pastry cutter (about 32 rounds), rerolling the offcuts. If you don’t have a pastry cutter use a glass, cup or anything approximately the same size. Place dollops of the filling in the centre of each round. Then fold over to make a half-moon shape, press to seal and make light indentations with a fork.
- Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, then add the tortelli and cook for about 5 minutes until cooked through – try one!
- At the same time, for the sauce, melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat, then add the sage leaves and a small ladleful of the hot pasta cooking water. Cook until the butter has melted, the leaves are bubbling and the water has largely evaporated. Using a slotted spoon, remove the tortelli from the boiling water, add to the sage butter sauce and gently mix together. Remove from the heat and serve with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan.
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