Making homemade pasta is a relaxing process I find, and I like to do it a few times a month. This recipe is quite similar to my Fresh Ravioli With Walnut sauce, except this time I made homemade tortellini. In this recipe I’ll show you how to properly fold a homemade tortellini, as well as the recipes for the dough and the Walnut Sauce.
I’m a big fan of making fresh pasta, but if you’ve never had it before there are a few things you should know. It has quite a different texture than dried pasta. Also, the boiling time is always less than dried pasta. The reason for this is that there is already some moisture in the dough so you do not need as much time to re-hydrate the pasta.
Homemade Tortellini With Walnut Sauce Ingredients
- 250 grams Flour. You can use All Purpose, but I used a 50/50 mix of AP and Tipo 00
- 3 Eggs; large
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- 100 grams Ricotta
- 1 tbsp Basil Oil
Walnut Sauce Ingredients
- 200 grams Walnuts; fresh if able, but in a cool dry place walnuts last a long time, so no worries if you buy them pre-shelled.
- 1 tbsp Pine Nuts
- 50 grams Butter; melted.
- 40 grams Parmigiano Reggiano, grated.
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 200 ml Heavy Cream. Also known as double cream, or whipping cream
- 1 tsp Salt; or to taste
- 1 tsp Black Pepper; freshly cracked.
Homemade Tortellini With Walnut Sauce Instructions
- Using a stand mixer add the flour, egg, salt, and pepper, and combine with a dough hook. I use a Smeg, and let it run on the lowest setting for about 10 minutes. Then remove, dust with flour if it is still sticky-tacky, and place in a bowl covered with a towel or plate and let rest for a half hour.
- Using a pasta roller, take a handful of dough and roll out a sheet of pasta. I go to the second thinnest setting on mine. Make sure to do this on a lightly floured table so nothing sticks.
- Use a ring mold or a cookie cutter to cut out circles from the dough. I use a 7.5 cm diameter ring mold, which does the trick just fine. Roll up any scrap left over and give it another pass through the machine so you don’t waste so much.
- Put about a teaspoon of ricotta in the middle of the dough. Use your finger to rub some water on the edge of 50% of the circle.
- Bring the to ends of the semi-circle together and pinch to close. I like to run my fingers around the edges once more bending backwards to make a nice flowery appearance.
- The tortellini will only take a few minutes to boil, so make sure to have the walnut sauce done beforehand. You can make it a day or two in advance and store it in the fridge. Just take all the ingredients and blend them together using a food processor.
Put it in a hot skillet with a tablespoon of water and whisk to make it creamy again if it is too thick. When you have the sauce basically ready, drop the tortellini in a pot of salted boiling water for 3 minutes. Then use a slotted ladle and carry them over directly to the sauce. Doing it this way will allow some pasta water to come to the sauce as well, so you won’t need to add any later. Toss to mix the homemade tortellini with the walnut sauce and plate. Drizzle with Basil Oil and serve hot.
Notes
If you are better at folding than me, you can use more ricotta filling per homemade tortellini. I just find one tsp works well for me. You can also use other fillings, but I find with such a rich sauce that a mild filling works best.
Homemade Tortellini With Walnut Sauce
Ingredients
- 250 grams Flour
- 3 Eggs large
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- 100 grams Ricotta
- 1 tbsp Basil Oil
Walnut Sauce
- 200 grams Walnuts
- 1 tbsp Pine Nuts
- 50 grams Butter
- 40 grams Parmigiano Reggiano
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 200 ml Heavy Cream
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Black Pepper freshly cracked
Instructions
- Using a stand mixer add the flour, egg, salt, and pepper, and combine with a dough hook. I use a Smeg, and let it run on the lowest setting for about 10 minutes. Then remove, dust with flour if it is still sticky-tacky, and place in a bowl covered with a towel or plate and let rest for a half hour.
- Using a pasta roller, take a handful of dough and roll out a sheet of pasta. I go to the second thinnest setting on mine. Make sure to do this on a lightly floured table so nothing sticks.
- Use a ring mold or a cookie cutter to cut out circles from the dough. I use a 7.5 cm diameter ring mold, which does the trick just fine. Roll up any scrap left over and give it another pass through the machine so you don’t waste so much.
- Put about a teaspoon of ricotta in the middle of the dough. Use your finger to rub some water on the edge of 50% of the circle.
- Bring the to ends of the semi-circle together and pinch to close. I like to run my fingers around the edges once more bending backwards to make a nice flowery appearance.
- The tortellini will only take a few minutes to boil, so make sure to have the walnut sauce done beforehand. You can make it a day or two in advance and store it in the fridge. Just take all the ingredients and blend them together using a food processor. Put it in a hot skillet with a tablespoon of water and whisk to make it creamy again if it is too thick. When you have the sauce basically ready, drop the tortellini in a pot of salted boiling water for 3 minutes. Then use a slotted ladle and carry them over directly to the sauce. Doing it this way will allow some pasta water to come to the sauce as well, so you won’t need to add any later. Toss to mix and plate. Drizzle with Basil Oil and serve hot.
