Agnolotti

I recently discovered these super cute-looking filled pasta, and I like them a lot. Agnolotti are easier to shape than cappelletti or tortellini but still feel like more than just ravioli. Of course, I don’t really have a recipe for them, but below is an attempt at explaining what to do.

The filling is up to you, as long as it’s not too thick (it’ll make forming the agnolotti more complicated than it has to be). Most fillings go like this: finely chop a shallot, saute it, add the main ingredient you choose, parmesan, cream cheese, salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg, and food-process everything. The main ingredients can be ham and cheese, prosciutto, blanched and squeezed spinach, or braised meat.

As per the dough, as a general rule, every time you make pasta dough, you should account for 1 egg per person, but for filled pasta, it’s more like 0.75 eggs per person. This recipe should be enough for 4 people.

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 300 grams of 00 flour (plus some extra). It also works with just all-purpose flour.
• Note: if you have Bob’s Red Mill’s semolina flour and want to use it, do half semolina and half all-purpose, because this particular semolina flour is too thick.

Procedure

1. Make the filling and set aside.
2. Place the flour on your countertop or a large bowl, make a well in the middle, add the eggs, beat the eggs with a fork, and combine everything. Knead the dough until it’s smooth and let it rest for at least 10 minutes.
3. Roll out the pasta dough with a rolling pin or pasta machine. You’ll need to divide the dough into at least four parts to be able to roll it into nice and thin sheets.
4. Lay a sheet of dough on your countertop, and spoon (or ultimately, pipe) a line of filling in the middle of the sheet. Try to leave some space at the ends of the sheet because the filling will move around.
5. Fold the top half of the pasta over the filling onto the other half. Press it tight. If the pasta feels too dry, you can wet your finger a little and use the water as glue.
6. Pinch the pasta to form the agnolotti. With a pasta wheel, cut a straight line through the pasta, on the other side of the filling. Then, cut through each pinched area with the wheel, making each little agnolotti!
7. Boil them in a large pot with lots of salt, for around 2 minutes.

Sauce Suggestions

Go simple on the sauce, here are some ideas:

• Melted butter with sage and black pepper.
• Fresh crushed tomatoes with just salt and pepper, basil always allowed.
• Heavy cream.