Fresh pasta has to be one of most delicious foods out there. Comforting and filling I would eat it every day if I could and I regularly eat it two or three times a week. It’s not the quickest meal to make but once you have the hang of making the pasta dough it’s incredibly easy and you can serve it with all sorts of different sauces and fillings. The key is making sure the dough is the right consistency, it should be firm and slightly tacky and not too soft, and when you get it right you’ll have incredibly silky pasta.
This pasta takes its name after its little pointed tips which look like ‘little hats’ and is similar to tortellini. If you’d rather make these into tortellini just use a 7cm round pastry cutter to cut the pasta instead of square and follow the same procedure with the filling. For me, this is the perfect Saturday night supper when you have time to really enjoy making the pasta and don’t feel rushed; the lemon adds a little zip, the toasted pine nuts some crunch and the fresh vegetables remind you that summer isn’t over yet. Enjoy!
Serves 2
2 eggs
200g ‘00’ past flour
2 tsp olive oil
100g semolina
175g ricotta
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 small yellow courgette, finely diced
50g fine asparagus, finely sliced
50g fine asparagus, cut into 2cm sticks
50g pine nuts, toasted
100g butter
salt and pepper to taste
To make the pasta put the flour, eggs and olive oil into a blender and blitz until it starts to crumb and just starts come together. The dough should be tacky but so if it is too dry add a little more egg or a little more flour if it is too wet. Tip the dough on to a work surface and knead it until it is smooth and elastic, this should take about 5-10 minutes. Wrap the dough in cling film and leave to rest for at least 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, to make the pasta filling fry half the finely diced courgette until it starts to soften but doesn’t colour and then add the finely sliced asparagus and cook until they are just tender. Set aside to cool. In a small bowl mix the ricotta with the lemon zest, 30g of the toasted pine nuts and the cooled vegetables. Season to taste and set aside.
To make the cappelletti roll the pasta, either using a pasta machine or by hand. If using a pasta machine roll the pasta to the second to last setting dusting occasionally with the semolina to stop it sticking. If you are rolling by hand lightly dust your work surface with flour and roll the pasta as thinly as you can.
Cut the rolled pasta sheets into 5cm squares and then cover them with cling film to stop them drying out. Taking a few squares at a time dot each square with ½ tsp of filling, brush the edges with a little water and then fold the square to form a triangle. Seal the edges together making sure there is no air trapped inside and then bring the two bottom corners together and seal. Dust with semolina and repeat until finished. At this stage you can cover the filled cappelletti with cling film and keep in the fridge for 2-3 hours until needed.
To make the sauce gently fry the remaining courgette until soft then add the remaining asparagus and cook until just tender. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil ready for the pasta.
In a small saucepan melt the butter with the lemon juice over a very low heat. You want the butter and lemon juice to emulsify so give it a swirl every so often; you may have to take the butter off the heat for a few seconds if it looks like it is going to split. Once the butter has melted add a few splashes of cold water to loosen the sauce. Set aside whilst you cook the pasta, tip the pasta into the boiling water and cook for 3-4 minutes or until the pasta has risen to the top of the pan and is al dente.
Drain the pasta and toss in half the sauce. Divide the pasta on to two plates and top with the asparagus and courgette, the remaining sauce and the remaining toasted pine nuts.
Anna cooks, Anna eats 