Pumpkin tortellini

Head chef Nathan Morphett and Franceso Ravanelli from Melbourne’s Il Solito Posto shares a recipe for pumpkin tortellini. Nathan describes making the pasta from scratch as "a labour of love" that, although takes a little more effort than buying ready-made, has a huge payoff in terms of flavour and quality. It's an elegant way to impress your guests.

file:2728_pumpkin-tortellini.jpg

• serves

  6

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 1 small cube of butter, chilled
• fried sage, to serve

Pasta dough

• 8 whole eggs
• 750 g flour type '00'
• 250 g semolina
• 10 g olive oil
• 5 g water
• pinch of salt

     

Pumpkin filling

• 1 pumpkin
• ½ tsp grounded nutmeg
• 2–3 eggs
• handful of parmesan
• sage, chopped, according to taste
• ricotta, according to taste
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Resting time 1 hour

Instructions

Combine flour and semolina together.

In a separate bowl whisk eggs with oil, salt and water.

Add it to flour and semolina and start working until the dough is firm and compact. Cover and set aside to rest for at least 1 hour.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 190°C.

Cut the pumpkin into wedges. Place on a tray with a small amount of water to prevent burning. Season the pumpkin with salt and pepper. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes or until cooked through.

Remove the skin and set aside to cool. When cool, blend the pumpkin in a food processor until it resembles a thick puree.

Place the pumpkin puree in a large bowl. Add the eggs, parmesan, nutmeg, ricotta, sage and oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. There are no exact measurements for ingredients. Taste and adjust to what you prefer.

Pass the dough through a pasta machine (sfogliatrice) until about 1mm thick.

Using a pasta cutter, cut out equal-sized circles from the pasta.

Transfer the pumpkin mixture to a piping bag. Squeeze a small amount into the middle of 1 pasta circles, making sure to leave a border. With a small brush, wet the border and fold to enclose the filling in a half moon shape. Press the two opposite sides together to form a hat shape. Repeat with the remaining pumpkin filling and pasta.

To prepare the sauce, heat water and butter in a pan over medium heat.

Cook the tortellini in a saucepan of salted boiling water for about 4 minutes. Drain.

Toss the tortellini in the water-butter emulsion. Top with crispy deep-fried sage to serve.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.