Homemade Pasta Tortellini with Prawn, Lemon, and Ricotta

Adapted from this recipe.

Homemade Pasta Tortellini with Prawn, Lemon, and Ricotta

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 50g unsalted butter

• Grated parmesan, to serve

• Garlic and Chilli oil, to serve

• 1 tbsp fennel seeds, to serve

• Black pepper, to serve

  
  

Filling*

• 150g defrosted frozen peas

• 100g parmesan, finely grated

• 50g full-fat ricotta**

• 50g cooked prawns

• 1 tbsp pine nuts, lightly toasted until golden

• 1 egg

  lightly beaten

• 5 stalks of dill, finely chopped

  
  

Whipped Ricotta

• 250g ricotta, strained in a cheese cloth or kitchen roll for 30 minutes

• ½ lemon, zested

• Maldon sea salt flakes (can be replaced for ground rock salt)

Pasta Dough

• 300g 00 pasta flour

• 3 eggs

• 1 tbsp water

• semolina or pasta flour for dusting

Method

Step 1

• To make the filling, pulse the peas in a food processor for 30 seconds or until finely chopped, then add the parmesan, ricotta, egg, pine nuts, and prawns.

• Add a pinch of salt and ground black pepper, and pulse for another 20 seconds. Stir through the dill. Transfer to a piping bag (I used a sandwich bag and cut the corner- if you do this, make sure the hole is medium-sized).

Step 2

• Using a whisk (or an electric one), whip the ricotta ingredients with a pinch of salt and a sprinkle of ground black pepper for 2 minutes until smooth and whipped. Chill in the fridge.

  
  

Step 3

• For the pasta, tip the flour onto a clean work surface and make a large hole in the middle of it.

• Crack the eggs into the middle, then whisk the eggs, slowly drawing in flour from the circumference into the eggs. Do this until all the flour is incorporated.

• When it becomes too hard to whisk, use your hands to knead in the flour. Do this for 8 minutes. If the dough becomes too dry and will not incorporate all the flour, add 1 tbsp warm water and knead that in.

• Knead the dough into a smooth ball and wrap tightly with cling film. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Step 4

• After 30 minutes, cut the dough into quarters. Working with one piece at a time, dust with flour, then flatten using the palm of your hands. Pass the dough through a pasta machine (I went to level 6 on mine, which is thinner than I would have thought, but it expands a lot once it has boiled).

• Keep passing the pasta through and reducing the setting each time until it is your desired thickness (I recommend around of 2mm of thickness).

Step 5

• Lay the rolled pasta sheet on a lightly floured work surface and cut into large squares.

• Fill the piping bag with the pasta filling, then pipe a 10p-sized amount of filling into the centre of your pasta circle. It is better to underfill than overfill - you do not want the parcels to rip when you boil it!

• Dab your ring finger into some water and rub it gently around the two edges of the pasta. Fold the sheet in half to form a triangle and press tightly to conceal the edges.

  
  

  

  
  

• Pinch the edges of the longest side of the triangle and pull it towards the middle. If the ends do not stick in the middle, pull the edges towards the middle and pinch again with dampened fingers - it should stick and completely seal the parcel!

  
  

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  Repeat this process until you have used all the pasta.

  
  

Step 6

• The tortellini can stick to the work surface, so use a scraper to get them up to avoid destroying your work.

• Plop them into a large pan of boiling salted water and cook for 3-4 minutes (if cooking from frozen, this will be 6-8 minutes).

• While the tortellini are cooking, heat 50g unsalted butter in a large frying pan until foaming.

• Add the cooked tortellini to the pan and toss gently to coat for 1 minute before serving into bowls.

• Serve with a dollop of the whipped ricotta, and if you want some extra flavour, parmesan, black pepper, fennel seeds, and chilli garlic oil. Simply divine!

Notes -

*Any filling that is left can be stored in the fridge and is perfect spread laviously over a crispy slice of sourdough.

** Use full-fat as it is richer and thicker, giving you a fluffier whipped ricotta to serve with the pasta.

***The tortellini can be frozen if not being used on the day – freeze in a single layer on a tray to avoid sticking before transferring to a bag.