Agnolotti

Cheese Stuffed Agnolotti

Cheese Stuffed Agnolotti

Ingredients

Servings 4

For cheese fondue filling

• 150 g Fontina cheese (5oz) or gruyere or provolone
• 50 g butter (2oz)
• 120 ml milk (1/2 cup)
• 1 egg yolk

For pasta dough

• 400 g soft wheat flour (14oz) or all-purpose flour – sifted
• 3 eggs large
• 1 egg yolk keep white to brush pasta dough
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil.
• durum wheat semolina flour for dusting and flouring

For sauce

• fresh sage leaves as required
• 50 g unsalted butter (2oz)
• 50 g Parmigiano Reggiano grated (2oz)
• salt for pasta and to taste.

Method

Filling

1. Cut the cheese into small chunks
2. Warm the milk and add the cheese and stir
3. Once the cheese has melted, allow to cool and then add the butter and egg yolk
4. Cook over a low heat while whisking/stirring continuously until the butter has melted and the sauce has thickened
5. Remove from heat, allow to cool and refrigerate while you make the pasta dough

Pasta Dough

1. Pour the flour into a mound in a bowl
2. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the eggs, egg yolk and the olive oil
3. Mix well and turn out on to a pastry board
4. Knead the dough using the heel of your hand and continue until you have a homogeneous dough that is only slightly sticky to touch (usually about 10-15 minutes)
5. Form the dough into a ball and leave it to rest for 20-30 minutes covered with a tea towel or covered in plastic wrap

Agnolotti

1. After the dough has rested, roll ¼ of it into a thin sheet a couple of millimeters thick with a rolling pin or a pasta machin
2. Take the rolled out portion of pasta dough, place it on a floured pastry board and cut off the ends to make a rectangle
3. Disperse a row of small mounds of filling along the long edge of the pasta sheet closest to you
4. You can do this with a teaspoon or with the filling inside a pastry bag
5. Continue along the edge of the pasta sheet, just far enough apart to pinch between each mound with your fingers
6. Once the pasta sheet is lined with small mounds of filling, brush around each mound with egg white
7. Then take a firm hold of each end of the sheet, and turn it over on top of itself, ensuring there is an edge formed on the outer side
8. Using the index finger and thumb of both hands, pinch the dough on each side of each mound of filling starting at one end
9. Move down the row of mounds, repinching the one pinched side and closing the open side with a new pinch until the entire row is pinched
10. Again, cut any excess pasta dough away from the outer side of the dough sheet using a pastry wheel, leaving enough space to form the agnolotti
11. Then with the same pastry wheel, cut between the agnolotti to separate them
12. Transfer to a well-floured tray while you make more agnolotti
13. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling

Cook

1. Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta
2. Add salt once it starts to boil and bring to the boil again
3. Add the agnolotti and cook until they rise to the surface of the water
4. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to the sauce
5. In the meantime, melt the butter in a pan that’s large enough to hold the pasta
6. Add the sage leaves and saute them until they are slightly crispy
7. Add the drained pasta to the butter and sage
8. Toss gently and serve with a sprinkling of Parmigiano (if required)