Cooking Together Italian – Recipes
Italian Cooking Together – Spinach Tortellini, Risotto with Sea Bass
Our Cooking Together events are as much about learning to cook as they are a sociable experience. We hope you enjoyed your evening and are ready to recreate the meals at home.
We Cooked:
- Starter: Spinach & Ricotta Tortellini.
- Main: Lemon, Chive and Pea Risotto with Pan-Fried Seabass. Chef made herb veloute
- Dessert: Click here for a link to the Food Sorcery favourites
Spinach & Ricotta Tortellini
Ingredients:
For the pasta (makes more dough than needed for this recipe):
- – 2 medium eggs
- – 200g ‘00’ flour, plus extra for dusting
For the filling:
- – 150g ricotta
- – 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- – 500g grams of blanched spinach, water squeezed out of it
- – 50g Parmesan (or a similar vegetarian hard cheese), grated
- – 1 lemon, zest only
- – pinch grated nutmeg
- – salt and freshly ground pepper
- – knob of butter, to serve
Method:
- Put eggs and flour in a food processor and process until smooth. The mixture will look like breadcrumbs at this stage. Tip out onto a lightly floured board and bring together using your hands. Knead the dough until it’s no longer sticky. Cover and rest in the fridge while you make the filling and pesto.
- For the filling, mix the ricotta, parmesan, spinach, garlic, lemon zest, nutmeg and a pinch of salt and pepper until well combined. Transfer to a piping bag or a plastic food bag with the corner snipped off.
- To assemble the tortellini, roll the pasta dough through all the sizes on the pasta machine starting with the widest setting and finishing on the smallest setting when the pasta is very thin. Using a 9cm/3½in round cutter, cut out 10 circles. (Any leftover dough can be frozen to use another time.)
- Pipe a heaped teaspoon amount of filling inside each pasta circle and fold in half to create a half moon shape. Wet the edges and press down to help them stick. Pull the two narrow ends together to form a tortellini shape.
- Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Cook the pasta in the boiling water for 2–3 minutes, or until al dente. Drain well.
- Meanwhile, put a frying pan over a medium–high heat and add a knob of butter. Cook until lightly browned and starting to bubble. Then add the hazelnut pesto and gently heat through.
- Serve the tortellini with the pesto spooned over the top.
Pea, Lemon & chive Risotto
Ingredients – Serves 2:
- – 2 tsp Oil
- – 50g parmesan grated
- – 1 garlic clove, crushed into a paste
- – 1/2 onion, finely chopped
- – 220g risotto rice
- – 100ml white wine
- – 500ml vegetable stock
- – 100g garden peas
- – lemon zest and juice
- – fresh chives, plus parsley/basil
Method:
- Finely dice the onion and crush the garlic into a paste using salt.
- Add oil in a saucepan and cook the onion until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Add the rice and stir through the onions, cooking for a minute before adding the wine.
- Allow the wine to reduce, stirring to coat the rice, then add a ladle of the stock. Once the stock is reduced, add another ladle and repeat the process until the stock is all used and the rice is just cooked.
- Add the peas and lemon zest with the final ladle of stock.
- Finish with grated parmesan, chopped herbs and a squeeze of lemon
Pan-Fried Seabass
How to Pan-Fry…
- Dry the sea bass fillets with a kitchen towel or blue j-cloth.
- Heat a non-stick frying pan on medium heat, sprinkle a pinch of salt into your pan.
- Score the fish and rub the skin side with a little bit of oil.
- Place in the pan skin side down and press on it gently for 10-15 seconds, this will help to keep the skin flat.
- Season the top side of the fish with a little bit of salt and pepper as well.
- Cook until the meat starts turning white, flip and cook on the other side for a minute.
- If you wish to add butter and lemon juice, do it now, make sure neither of them touch the skin as that would make
Spinach & Herb Velouté – made by chef
Ingredients – Serves 4:
- – 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- – 1 Onion, finely chopped
- – 1 Garlic Clove, crushed
- – Salt
- – 100ml Dry White Wine
- – 6 cups Baby Spinach (washed)
- – ½ Bunch of Chives
- – ½ Bunch of Parsley
- – ¼ Bunch of Basil
- – 3 cups Vegetable stock (hot)
- – ⅓ cup Double Cream
- – Freshly Ground Peppers
Method:
- 1. Heat the oil in a large pan set over a medium heat until hot.
- 2. Add the onion, garlic and a pinch of salt and cook gently for 5 minutes until softened.
- 3. Add the wine and boil for 2 minutes to evaporate the alcohol.
- 4. Add the spinach, stir well, and cover with the stock. Cook until simmering, then continue to cook steadily for a further 5 minutes.
- 5. Add the cream, stir well, and cook for 2 minutes Do not boil. Add all the herbs at this point. Blend with a stick blender until smooth. You can pass the sauce through a fine strainer for extra smooth results.
- 6. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Use the link above to explore the Food Sorcery favourite dessert recipes
We hope you enjoyed the class!
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