Tortelli di Zucca
A food post in October/Halloween is not complete without at least one pumpkin recipe correct? So here’s my favourite pumpkin recipe. When I learned to make fresh pasta a few years ago, the first “filled” pasta we learned to make was the Tortelli di Zucca. I still remember the lady who taught me to make pasta. We were in a class of 10 students and she was an Italian lady from Emilia Romagna. She was absolutely militant that there was one and ONLY ONE way to make pasta. She would have been a great witch for halloween! haha!
No halloween is complete without a costume! So here is one of me and my family. Can you guess which costume I’m wearing?
Can you guess who I am in the photo?
She said you had to place the flour on the a wooden surface, make a well in the middle of the pasta, crack the eggs into the well and “scramble” the eggs and then slowly incorporate the flour. Anyone in the class caught doing otherwise would always get reprimanded and, as I guess passionate Italians are, she wasn’t shy to reprimand! I was half expecting her to take out a ruler and slap someone’s hand if caught not following directions…
Pumpkin puree, parmesan cheese, amaretti biscuits and home made pasta!
In the end, I do have to admit that, being to several other pasta making classes, this is the one technique and recipe that I continue to go back to.
The filling, I have changed because looking at the original recipe, I realized there were no quantities. I think we were expected to write down quantities as she talked but I must have forgotten. I was too scared to call her and ask for the recipe so… I can safely say that this is my variation on the Tortelli di Zucca and it tastes just as good as what we made that day in class!
Recipe for Pumpkin Filling
- 1 kilo pumpkin, peeled, seeded and chopped into pieces
- 2 cups grated parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 amaretti biscuit, crushed
- olive oil
- Place the pumpkin in a pan and drizzle some olive oil on top to prevent sticking.
- Pre heat the oven to 180c and bake the pumpkin for 40 minutes until soft
- Pass the pumpkin through a sieve and place in a bowl
- Add the cheese, egg and amaretti biscuit
- Fill the pasta sheets with the pumpkin filling and cover with another layer of pasta
- Shape and rest for a few minutes
For the pasta, the recipe can be found here.
To serve:
- 100 grams butter
- a few sage leaves
- a handful of crushed hazelnuts
- Heat some water until boiling and add salt.
- Cook the tortelli for 3 to5 minutes and drain, set aside in a warm place
- Heat the butter in a pan and when browned and foaming, add the sage leaves
- Remove the butter from the heat and pour over the pasta
- Add a handful of crushed hazelnuts before serving
Okay okay… the suspense must be killing you… let it be known that I CAN MAKE FUN OF MYSELF… here I am. Did you guess correctly?
Happy Halloween!
So sorry to C3PO, The Nurse, (Not so…)Minnie Mouse, The Overfed Indian and The Geisha (who is a bit too old to go trick or treating!!!) that I did not get photo approval ahead of time!
Trissalicious 