Ricotta and Nettle Tortelloni with Lemon, Basil and Garlic Pesto
Homemade tortelloni are most definitely a labour of love but are well worth all the extra effort. A bit bigger than meaty tortellini, they are gorgeous soft pillows filled with creamy ricotta and in this case iron rich nettle leaves. Nettles work particularly well here with the lightly flavoured cheese, accompanied by the fresh citrus lift of lemon in the pesto.
Strictly speaking, we are out of prime nettle season which runs from March into late April. But, if you are lucky, you may find some young nettles still lurking in the shady parts of your local woods like I did, or you may have a later season if you are further north than I am just outside of London.
Be aware that if the nettles are in flower you can’t eat them and they can also become bitter and fibrous when they get too big and tough. Finally, do think about how close you are to roads and areas where the nettles may have been sprayed and wash them really well before you use them.
All that said, I wanted to post this up, late as it is due to the fact I have been unwell with the Coronavirus for quite a while. I just love the dark green, irony flavour of nettles mixed with an almost blossom like sweet grassy aroma. You can also feel virtuous including these wild greens into your diet as they contain a wide range or minerals and vitamins including vitamin C and iron.
If you are too late for this year’s nettle season, this recipe works equally well with spinach which can be treated in exactly the same way. You can also choose to make the dough, pesto and filling a day ahead if you like and keep them in the fridge.
Ingredients
Tortelloni
500g of pasta dough
400g Ricotta Cheese
100g nettle leaves (or spinach)
50g parmesan cheese grated
1/2 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
‘00’ pasta flour for dusting whilst rolling
Approx 200g dried semolina
Pesto
2 large handfuls of basil leaves
2 garlic cloves roughly chopped
70 toasted pine nuts
1 lemon zest plus a squeeze of the lemon juice
50g parmesan cheese grated
150ml olive oil
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Serves 4
Prep time: 1.5 hours (excluding pasta dough) Cooking time: 5 mins
You will need a large pan in which to boil the water for the pasta, a pasta rolling machine, a small blender or pestle and mortar and an 8cm pastry cutter.
Begin by making your pasta dough and leave it to rest wrapped in clingfilm for 45 minutes.
Next, make your pesto. Put all of the ingredients except the oil into the small bowl of a food processor (you can use a pestle and mortar if you prefer).
Pulse the ingredients until they start to break down and then, with the motor running, gradually pour in the olive oil. Taste and adjust the seasoning and add a bit more lemon juice if you feel you need it.
If you feel the pesto is a bit thicker than you’d like, you can add a bit more oil until it is a good drizzling consistency.
Keep the pesto in the fridge until about 10 minutes before you are going to use it.
To prepare the nettles, first put a pan of water onto boil. Use gloves to remove the leaves from the stalks until you have the weight of leaves you need. Discard the stalks and wash the leaves thoroughly.
When the water is boiling, blanch the nettle leaves by plunging them into the boiling water and leave to cook for 3-4 minutes. Take them out and refresh them in iced or very cold water in a large bowl.
Remove the nettle leaves from the water and squeeze all of the water from them. First, by pushing them down onto a colander and then, by wrapping them in a clean tea towel and giving them a good squeeze.
Chop the nettle leaves into small pieces. If you are using spinach instead, follow the same steps.
To make your tortelloni filling, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, making sure the nettles are completely cool before you add them to the mixture. Season to taste and refrigerate until you need it.
To make the tortelloni, divide your rested pasta dough into chunks about 70g - 80g in weight.
Wrap the dough you are not using and lightly flour the surface you are working on. Take one piece of the dough and push down to flatten it with the palm of your hand. This will help it go through the machine.
Set the pasta rolling machine to the widest setting and roll the pasta dough through. Fold the pasta dough over onto itself. Fold one third into the middle and then the other third over on top of that third so you have two straight parallel sides.
Turn the pasta so the section you have folded goes onto the rollers. This means the straight edges are facing to the sides of the machine. Roll the pasta through the machine on the same setting and repeat the previous folding and rolling steps twice more.
Move the pasta roller onto the next setting down and roll the dough through once through this setting now without folding it. Repeat with each setting, stopping on the second to last one. Roll the dough twice through the second to last setting.
You may need to dust the dough with flour as you roll it through the settings if it starts to stick. When you have finished rolling out your pasta, lay it on a floured surface.
I’d suggest, that you roll a length of dough and then make the tortelloni as, if it dries out, it will break when you try to shape it.
Before you make the tortelloni, sprinkle the dried semolina onto a large plate or tray. You will need this to stand the tortelloni on while you are making the rest.
Take your 8cm pastry cutter and cut out as many circles as you can from the rolled pasta sheet. Remove the excess pastry and set to one side. Half fill a ramekin with cold water.
Put about a teaspoon of filling into the centre of each circle. Wet the edge of one half of the pasta circle with water.
Fold the pasta over to create a half moon shape. To seal the pasta, gently push away from the centre of the pasta to the edge in the middle of the half moon. Then work from the middle to one corner to seal the pasta, pushing the air out from the centre to the edge. Finally repeat on the other side, working from the middle to the corner. Take care to remove all of the air otherwise, the tortelloni will burst when you cook them.
Finally, wrap the pasta piece gently round your little finger and bring the two corners together in a circle. Gently squeeze together the two corners to make the final tortelloni shape and then place on the dried semonlina.
Repeat the rolling out, filling and shaping process for your remaining dough and filling.
When you are about half way through, Fill a large pot with boiling water and put in 10g of salt for every 1 litre of water you are using. Cover and heat to a rolling boil for when you are using it to cook.
To cook the tortelloni, bring the water up to a rolling boil and drop in the pasta in batches. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the pasta has softened. I have a very big pasta pot which will take the tortelloni in the two batches but if you working in a smaller pot, you will need to adjust accordingly. Too many tortelloni in the pot in one go will drop the temperature of the water and you will end up with soggy pasta.
When you are ready to serve your tortelloni, divide them between the plates, drizzle over your pesto and finish with a few parmesan curls.
Note: If you are making a vegetarian version of this, make sure you are using vegetarian cheese.
