This time I would like to encourage you to bring to the table a gourmet dish. It’s quite refined and i think it can satisfy e the most demanding peopleas well. I’ve choosen raw materials that aren’t sophisticated. In fact I’m talking about aubergines, eggs, flour and ricotta. They’re easy to find and also cheap, but their combination gives life to an elaborate dish that It’s worthy of a king’s banquet! Please note: doses provide for the creation of about fifty tortelli. If you believe they aren’t enough, you can triple doses !! Enjoy your meal!
Serves:4
For the filling:
- 200 grams aubergines
- 200grams sheep ricotta
- 20 grams grated Grana Padano
- freshly ground white pepper
- salt to taste
- extra virgin olive oil
Method
Place the ricotta in a mesh strainer for at least an hour to remove the whey. Pass with a sieve and set aside. Clean the aubergine, cut it into small cubes and drain it with coarse salt for about 30 minutes. Rinse and dry with a kitchen towel. Cook in a pan with extra virgin olive oil. Then place the aubergines on a plate covered with kitchen paper to remove any excess oil. Let it cool down. Add aubergine and cheese to the ricotta. Season with salt and pepper and mix well.
For the egg pasta:
- 200 gr of 00 flour
- 2 eggs
Method
Place the flour on a wooden board, add the eggs and begin to knead. The dough should be smooth, so it will have to be worked for about 10 minutes. Form a ball, cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Divide the dough into small loaves. Take one, while the others leave them wrapped in the cling film so they will not dry up. Roll the pasta dough through a pasta machine, starting from the widest setting, and gradually going down the settings until the arrow is between 0 and 1. The pasta dough should be very thin ( about 1 mm thickness). Proceed in the same way for all the other loaves. Roll out a rectangle of pasta on a floured surface and form circles with a pastry cutter with a diameter of 7 cm. Place a little filling in the center, brush edges with a little water. Close, forming a half moon, fold and overlap the two ends. Create all tortelli like this.
For the tomato pasta:
- 100 gr of 00 flour
- 15 gr of tomato paste
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon of extra virgin oil
Method
Place the flour on a wooden pastry board add eggs, tomato paste and oil. Begin to knead. The dough should be smooth, so it will be worked for about 10 minutes. Form a ball, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Proceed in the same way as for egg pasta.
For the Grana Padano fondue:
- 400 ml fresh cream
- 40 gr grated Grana Padano
- nutmeg
- salt to taste
Method
Heat the cream in a saucepan. Add the cheese and melt it. Stir continuously for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then remove from the heat.
For the tomato powder:
- 25 cherry tomatoes peels
- a pinch of salt
Method
Place tomatoes peels in a non-stick baking tin. Let them dry at 70° Celsius degrees for about an hour. Remove from the oven, let cool, salt and chop them with a kitchen mixer but not too finely.
Plating
Pour the fondue in a soup plate, lay tortelli on top. (You have to Cook themthat for about 3-4 minutes in boiling salted water). Decorate with tomato powder and some herbs.