Preparation: PREPARE the pasta dough:
Sift the flour and salt onto a work surface and make a well in the center. Break the eggs into the well and mix it with a fork. Draw in flour from the sides and continue to mix until it is well-combined. Sprinkle flour over the mixture and knead it with your hands for 10 minutes until it is elastic but still firm. It may be necessary to add more flour to achieve this. Shape the dough into a ball and cover it with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 15 minutes.
KNEAD the dough again for 5-10 minutes until it is very smooth and pliable. Cover the dough and let rest for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the filling.
Preheat the oven to 350¡ F/ 180¡ C.
Remove the pumpkin seeds. Place the pumpkin on a baking sheet and cook until soft. This can take up to 40 minutes. Leave to cool and then separate the flesh from the skin. Mash the flesh in a bowl with a fork or use a food processor. Mix in the cheese, ground almonds, nutmeg, salt, pepper and lemon peel.
Make the tortelloni:
Roll out the pasta very thinly with a ROLLINGPIN
or using a PASTAMACHINE.
CUT the dough into 4 inch/ 10 cm wide strips.
Using a piping bag or a teaspoon, DROP small mounds of filling at 2 inch/ 5 cm intervals.
Moisten the edges of the pasta. FOLD the pasta over and press between the mounds with your hand.
CUT between the mounds with a pasta wheel. Press the edges together to seal.
FOLD each square in half to form a triangle. Bring the two corners together wrapping them around your fingertip and pinching the corners together.
Let them rest on a floured kitchen towel for an hour, rotating the pieces 2 or 3 times. Fifteen minutes before the pasta is done drying, bring a large pasta pot of lightly-salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta.
In the meantime, melt the butter and cheese in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in the thyme and set it aside. When the pasta floats to the surface, strain it and transfer it to a serving dish. Spoon the sauce over and serve while hot.
Notes: Pumpkin is a favorite vegetable in Emilia-Romagna and is used more with pastas than in desserts.
Wines:
White or red Chianti
Soave
Ingredients:
Dough:
Unbleached white flour 2 1/4 cups
Eggs 3
Salt pinch
Filling:
Pumpkin 1 kg (in one piece)
Caciocavallo cheese 200 g or other hard cheese
Ground almonds 100 g
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Ground nutmeg 1/2 tsp
Grated lemon zest 1/2 lemon
Sauce:
Butter 50 g
Grated cheese (same as filling) 50 g
Dried thyme 1/2 tsp
Tools:
Flour sifter
Bowl
Kitchen towel
Rolling pin or pasta machine
Baking sheet
Small knife
Grater
Food mill or food processor
Saucepan
Pasta pot
Slotted spoon
Wooden spoon
