Pasta Making Cookery Class Recipes – Tortellini; Tagliatelle; Cacciatore;
Pasta Making Cookery Class Recipes
Our cookery classes are as much about learning to cook as they are a sociable experience. We hope you enjoyed your class and are ready to recreate the meals at home. The recipes work really well as delicious dinners and make a great combination for dinner party ideas.
We Cooked:
- Spinach & Ricotta Tortellini;
- Herb Pesto;
- Chicken Cacciatore;
- Tagliatelle;
Spinach & Ricotta Tortellini
Ingredients: Serves 2
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:
For the pasta, pour the flour into a mound onto a flat surface and make a well in the centre. Crack the eggs into the well and gradually mix with either a blunt knife or your hands. When the dough has become a thick paste use your hands to incorporate more of the flour.
Alternativly, 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.
Herb Pesto – this was Pre-Made for you.
Ingredients – Serves 2:
- – 1/2 clove of garlic
- – Small handful of fresh basil
- – Handful of chives
- – Handful of coriander
- – 1 TBSP of pine nuts
- – 1 good handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- – extra virgin olive oil
- – 1/2 lemon
Method:
- Peel the garlic, then pound in a pestle and mortar with a pinch of sea salt.
- Pick, roughly chop and add the basil, followed by coriander and chives, then blend in a food processor.
- Add the pine nuts (very lightly toast first, if you like) to the mixture and blend again, same with the parmesan.
- Drizzle in some oil – you need just enough to bind the sauce and get it to an oozy consistency.
- Add most of the remaining cheese, then season to perfection with salt and black pepper. Have a taste and keep adding a bit more cheese or oil until you are happy with the taste and consistency.
- Add a squeeze of lemon juice at the end
Chicken Caccitore
Ingredients – Serves 2:
- – 4 chicken thigh, skinless and boneless
- – 1 shallot, diced
- – 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- – 1 red pepper, de-seeded and sliced
- – 400g chopped tomatoes
- – Handful of fresh cherry tomatoes
- – Handful of olives of your choice
- – 2tbsp of capers
- – 100ml of red wine
- – 1 tsp of sugar
- – 2 sprigs of thyme
- – 6 basil leaves
- – 1 bulb of mozzarella, shred into pieces
- – 1tbsp of olive oil
- – Seasoning
Method:
- Pre-heat your oven to 185C.
- Place a heavy skillet on medium heat with a splash of oil.
- Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper and sear of in the pan, remove from the pan and leave on side for now (chicken doesn’t need to be cooked through yet).
- Add another splash of oil in the same pan and sauté onions for a couple of minutes, followed by garlic.
- Next comes the red pepper, cook for another minute.
- Now pour in the red wine with sugar and reduce by half, followed by cherry tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, capers, chopped thyme and olives. Simmer for ten minutes, correct seasoning, place the chicken on top and bake for roughly 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Right before serving, place mozzarella on top and melt in the oven.
- Garnish with chopped basil leaves.
Homemade Tagliatelle
Ingredients – Serves 2:
- – 1 large eggs
- – 100g of 00 flour, plus extra for dusting
Method:
- Place 180g of the 00 flour onto a large wooden board. Pour the remaining 20g of flour into a small bowl, ready to use if necessary.
- Shape the flour into a volcano with a large hole in the centre, then crack the eggs and pour them into the middle.
- Using a fork, lightly beat the eggs, then mix in the flour a little at time. It is essential that the flour is gradually beaten into the eggs to ensure the walls of the volcano don’t break too soon. Add the reserved 20g of flour if the dough is too moist.
- Bring the mixture together with a spatula and your hands until you obtain a consistent ball of dough.
- Work the dough with the heel of your hand for 10–15 minutes, or until the mixture is smooth and very elastic. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Dust a wooden board with 1 tbsp of flour. Unwrap the dough and flatten it with a rolling pin. Roll out the dough into thin pasta sheets, less than 1mm thick.
- If you have a pasta machine, divide the dough into 4 before rolling it out. Flatten it to a rough square so that it fits through the machine at its highest setting. Roll it through & fold it back over it to itself. Rotate it through 90 degrees and repeat this a few times. This releases the gluten which increases the elasticity of the dough and stops it cracking & tearing. Now reduce the thickness of the machine 1 click at a time until you reach the 2ndlast setting. You can feed it through the cutting attachment.
- To cut the pasta sheets into tagliatelle, roll the sheets up and cut into large ¾cm strips. Unravel the cut tagliatelle strips and twirl into little nests. Dust the nests liberally with flour to stop them from sticking.
- Cook the tagliatelle within a few hours in boiling salted water for 3–5 minutes before serving with your favourite sauce.
- Alternatively, freeze for up to 1 month. To freeze the pasta, layer the tagliatelle flat on a tray lined with parchment paper and freeze for 1 hour, then transfer to a freezer bag or another suitable container.
Romesco Sauce (optional)
Ingredients – Yields 3cups
- One 450g jar of roasted red peppers, drained
- ½ cup raw or roasted almonds (unsalted)
- ¼ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed and drained
- 2 medium-to-large cloves garlic, peeled and quartered
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Add toasted pine nuts and Gorgonzola cheese to add flavour and texture.
Method
- In a blender (preferably) or food processor, combine everything but the olive oil. Securely fasten the lid and blend, starting on low and increasing the speed as you are able to gain traction.
- Once the ingredients are mostly blended, start drizzling in the olive oil while running the blender. Blend until you reach your desired consistency (I like my romesco sauce pretty creamy, but you might prefer it with a chunkier texture).
- Taste, and add additional salt (up to ¼ teaspoon) if it doesn’t quite knock your socks off yet. Serve immediately with toasted sourdough bread rubbed with raw garlic (as a funkier version of Pan con tomate), you could add chorizo or other toppings
- You could also use as a sauce for arancini and many other dishes
- Or store in a jar in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
Spinach Pasta – to try at Home
Ingredients
For the pasta (makes more dough than needed for this recipe)
- 70g spinach (blanched)
- 4 large free-range egg yolks
- 200g ‘00’ flour, plus extra for dusting
For the hazelnut pesto
- 25g whole blanched hazelnuts
- 15g Parmesan (or a similar vegetarian hard cheese), grated
- 1 tbsp hazelnut oil
- 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
Method
- Put the spinach and egg yolks in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the flour and whizz again to combine – 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 pesto, spread the hazelnuts on a baking tray and toast in the oven for 6–8 minutes, until golden brown, then set aside to cool.
- To make the pesto, crush the hazelnuts in a pestle and mortar, then gently stir in the Parmesan and oils.
- 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.
We hope you enjoyed the class!
We really hope you enjoyed your class at Food Sorcery. If you have any questions for chef get in touch lovetocook@foodsorcery.co.uk
Spread the word about us! on TripAdvisor or google. If you have any feedback about the class please do let us know.
Take a Look at our cookery classes. Gift vouchers are available and never expire.
