Homemade ricotta tortellini

Homemade pasta tastes so much better than the store-bought stuff - and it's loads more fun to make! Master this recipe and you'll be whipping it out for friends and family again and again. *Note, before you get started, you'll need a pasta machine 

Preparation time

50 minutes 

Cooking and dressing time

10 minutes

Serves

4

Ingredients 

For the pasta dough

For the filling

For the egg wash

1 egg, whisked

For the dressing

Olive oil and salt to dress

Method

• Bring your pasta dough ingredients together in a food processor with a few quick pulses. If you don't have a food processor, pour your flour out onto the bench, make a well in the middle for your eggs, drizzle in your oil and use a fork to combine the ingredients, gently whisking from the inside out to slowly incorporate the flour. 
• Pack the dough into a ball and knead it for about five minutes (aim to knead without folding, pushing the dough away from you, reforming it into a ball and repeating).
• When your dough is smooth and springy, wrap it in clingwrap and put it in the fridge to rest for about half an hour.
• Mix your filling ingredients together and set aside.
• You'll have about 25 minutes left before your dough is ready to work with, so now's the time to set up your pasta machine, get a big pot of water on the boil and set the table.
• When your dough is ready to come out of the fridge, split it into four pieces.
• Take the first piece and roll it through the pasta machine on its highest width setting. Repeat, decreasing the width setting after each roll, until it is as thin as you can work with it, without tearing it. Transfer to a floured surface. Repeat with the three remainig pieces. You should end up with four long sheets of pasta.
• Spoon out your filling, one dollop at a time onto one of the pasta sheets, making sure each little mound of filling is a few inches a part from the next. Brush the sides of the sheet with the egg wash, and cover with another pasta sheet. Press to seal. Repeat.
• Use a cookie cutter or a knife to cut out your pasta rounds. Use a fork to give the edges a pattern and ensure a good seal.
• Cook in batches in salted boiling water for around two minutes, or until 'al dente'.
• Dress with salt and olive oil.
• Enjoy!