Pumpkin Spice Tortellini

October 08, 2020

Pumpkin Spice Tortellini

By Joe Cowan

Director of Operations

Making different pasta shapes is a very rewarding process. When attempting a new shape or making pasta for the first time, expect to make mistakes. For tortellini I use a higher hydration percentage with a little extra added water. A wetter dough will stretch and make sticking the sides easier provided you work with lightly floured hands. For the filling, add less than you think, especially the first couple rows that you attempt until you get comfortable with shaping them. Do not get discouraged! The more you practice, even within the same batch, the better the shapes will come out.

Sourdough Egg Pasta

Ingredients

Pasta Flour / 00 flour 170g

Sourdough leaven 50g

Egg yolks 240g (~12 large eggs)

Water 15g

Pastry or rice flour for dusting

Filling

Roasted pumpkin 200g

Cinnamon 5g

Nutmeg 2g

Melted Butter 25g

Heavy Cream 50g

5 fresh sage leaves, minced

Directions

In a large bowl, add the flour and make a hole in the center. Add the egg yolks, sourdough leaven, and water and whisk together with a fork.
Once the dough starts to come together into a shaggy mass, start to knead it into a ball. Continue kneading with the meaty portion of your hand until smooth. Shape into a rough ball or disk and cover with plastic wrap or use in bag. Refrigerate for 3-6 hours or overnight in order to ferment and settle. Once the dough is ready start to prepare all of the ingredients to shape and fill the tortellini.
While the dough is in the refrigerator, mix all the filling ingredients together in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Set it in the refrigerator until the dough is ready.
On a smooth surface or with a pasta roller, lightly dust and roll out the dough into sheets and cut into 2” squares.
Place a small amount of filling in the center of each square. With your index finger and thumb fold each square over in half and pinch the sides. Then stretch one corner over your finger binding it to the other side.
Set the finished tortellini on a piece of parchment or wax paper with a little bit more flour and allow to dry for 1 hour before use or refrigerate overnight.
In a medium saucepan with 4 quarts of salted water, bring to a boil and add the tortellini. Turn the heat down and simmer for 5 minutes or until soft. Strain the tortellini and add olive oil or butter immediately to prevent them from sticking. Serve with alfredo sauce, grated cheese, or pepper and salt with more butter.

Also in Main Dishes

Garam Masala Curry

October 15, 2020

I absolutely love comfort food. Although I couldn’t possibly do it justice in one post, Indian food, and the many variations found within that ethnicity are a go to comfort food for me. Authentic recipes may differ slightly or significantly depending on region, you can still make your own version of wonderful Indian inspired food at home with ingredients that are readily available. Garam Masala, which means “hot (garam) mixture of spices (masala)”, is not unique to India, as it can be found in different variations throughout South Asia. It is however a mainstay in Indian cuisine and belongs high up on the list of great comfort foods and is surprisingly simple to make. I keep a Garam Masala blend on hand in an old Miron jar to use weekly.