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| Our hand-made tortellini (spot Ash's ones in the bottom right corner! He delegated the rest of them to me after these deformed efforts!) |
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| The finished dish |
Ingredients:
Dough:
300g strong white flour
1/2 tsp fine salt
200ml boiling water
Filling
500g butternut squash
1tsp olive oil
1 red onion
3tbsp quick-cook polenta
25g parmesan
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
salt & pepper
Sauce
3 tbsp half-fat creme fraiche
handful basil leaves
2 big handfuls of baby spinach leaves
Chilli flakes
First make the dough. Sift the flour & mix in the salt & then stir in the boiling water with chopsticks until a ball forms. If the dough seems too wet add a bit more flour. If it's too dry add more water. Cover the dough & leave it to stand & cool for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 200c. Peel the butternut squash & cut it into 4cm chunks. Toss them in oil, season & then roast in the oven for 25 minutes. Finely slice the red onion. Toss it in the remaining oil & add to the squash after the 25 min cooking time & cook for a further 10 minutes.
Allow the veg to cool for 5 minutes, then add to a blender with the polenta & blitz it to make an orange puree. Set aside to cool for an hour, then stir in the parmesan & nutmeg.
Place the dough on a lightly floured surface & knead for 5 minutes until it is very elastic. Roll the dough out very thinly & cut out circles using a pastry cutter - you can't re-roll this dough, so get as many as you can out of it in one go.
Take a disc of dough & lay it flat in the palm of your hand. Place a heaped teaspoon of the filling in the middle, dip your finger in water & brush it around the edge. Fold the pastry over & press the edges firmly to form a semi-circle.
Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Drop the tortellini gently into the hot water & cook for 5 minutes until the pasta is tender. Drain & then tip the pasta back into the saucepan. Add the creme fraiche, basil & spinach leaves. Season well, add chilli flakes, then toss together over a low heat until the spinach wilts.
