Spinach & Ricotta Tortellini with Cherry Tomato Sauce

Have you ever made pasta at  home? Try it. Its not so difficult as it sounds and the taste of fresh homemade pasta is awesome. Follow the recipe below. You can change the filling or the sauce to your liking.

Ingredients

For the Tortellini pasta:

a) Pasta

1. Plain flour : 300 gm
2. Salt: 1 tsp
3. Eggs: 3
4. Olive oil: 1 tbsp

b) Filling

1. Spinach: 1 cup, chopped and boiled
2. Ricotta cheese: 1/2 cup
3. Green onion: 1/2 cup, chopped (both white and green part)
4. Garlic: 1/2 tsp, crushed
5. Black pepper: 1/2 tsp or to taste
6. Cayenne pepper: 1/4 tsp
7. Dried basil: 1/4 tsp
8. Thyme: 1/4 tsp
9. Oregano: 1/4 tsp
10. Salt: To taste

For the Cherry Tomato Sauce:

1. Cherry tomatoes: 7-8, halved
2. Green onion: 1/2 cup, chopped, white part only
3. Tomato paste: 1/2 cup
4. Garlic: 1 tbsp
5. Dried basil: 1 tsp 
6. Red chilli flakes: 1/4 tsp or to taste
7. Salt: to taste 
8. Olive oil
9. Parmesan cheese: 1 tbsp, for garnish

Instructions:

Tortellini pasta dough

1. Combine and sift the dry ingredients (flour and salt) together in a bowl. Beat the eggs and olive oil separately and add to the flour mixture. 
2. If you have a food processor, put this mixture into the dough attachment and process until the mixture forms a ball. Else mix everything by hand. 
3. Once the dough looks worked through, remove it from the processor and knead briefly on a lightly floured surface until smooth and compact. Cover the dough with cling film and rest at room temperature. 

Filling: 

    1. Heat a little olive oil in a pan and sauté onion and garlic until golden.

    2. Add the boiled spinach with all the herbs and spices and sauté  for 5 minutes. Take the mixture           away from heat and cool. Put aside 1 tbsp of this mixture for garnish and use the remaining for           pasta filling.

    3. Once the mixture has cooled down, add ricotta cheese into it and mix well. 

    4. The mixture is now ready to be filled in the tortellini.

How to shape the tortellini and fill in with the spinach+ricotta mixture:

Pictures from web

1. Take a small ball of the dough and roll it into a 2 inch diameter disk, 1/16 inch thick. Alternatively, take a ball of dough and roll it into a flat sheet, 1/16 inch thick. Now using a round cookie cutter or glass, cut out a 2 inch diameter round disk.
2. See the figure above. Put a small amount of filling in the center of the disk and brush the edges with flour slurry (mix a little flour in water to make a sticky paste) or a lightly beaten egg.  Fold the disk in half to make a semi circle. Press the edges with your fingers to seal them together.  Lastly, pick up the semi-circular disk and hold the two ends of the flat edge, carefully turning them straight upwards toward each other until they meet.  Press the two ends together to make the tortellini.
3. To cook, bring a large pot of salted boiling water to a boil and drop in the tortellini.  When the tortellini float to the surface, they are done.

Cherry Tomato Sauce:

1. Heat up a little olive oil in a pan. Add onion and garlic and sauté  until golden. 
2. Add the tomato paste with a pinch of salt, chilli flakes and dried basil. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add a little water, if necessary.
3. Now add the cherry tomatoes and toss the mixture around until everything is mixed well. Let the sauce simmer for 2 minutes. 
4. Add the boiled tortellini to the mixture and mix until it is well coated by the sauce. 

Serve the pasta by garnishing it with the left-over spinach+ricotta mixture and parmesan cheese as shown in the picture in this post.

Happy eating! :)