Potato and Cheddar Tortellini

From Simon Bryant’s Vegies, Simon Bryant, Lantern, 2012.

When I am in the right mood, I thoroughly enjoy making pasta. There is something truly relaxing about making a dough and pounding it, then squeezing it through the rollers again and again until it is the thickness that you want.

I did not use Simon Bryant’s recipe for the pasta; his was very rich with 500g flour, 3 whole eggs and 9 yolks. I used my favourite one of 250g flour with 2 whole eggs and one yolk. This was mixed with a little olive oil and a little water until the consistency that I wanted. It was then put in the refrigerator for an hour.

Meanwhile the filling was made. I simmered 9 garlic cloves (unpeeled) in a little milk for about 10 minutes. They were then taken out of the milk and placed in a small dish with a little butter and a sprinkling of salt. They went in the oven (200ºC) for about 15 minutes. Then were taken out and left to cool.

I boiled two large potatoes and when done they were mashed with 5 of the garlic cloves squeezed from their skins. A dollop of butter was added with about 100ml cream. These were stirred in and then into the mix went a grating of nutmeg, a good pinch of cayenne, quite a bit of white pepper, a handful of chopped parsley, a little extra virgin olive oil and almost a cup of grated cheddar cheese. The mixture was stirred until combined then tasted and some salt added. Over stirring was avoided.

The pasta was now rolled thin, cut into 10cm rounds, a tablespoon of filling added, and they were then formed into the tortellini. They went into a pot of boiling salted water and were cooked until they had floated to the surface. I gave them a minute or two extra in the water before dishing them up.

The tortellini went onto serving plates. Two squeezed garlic cloves went onto each plate. A sprinkling of cayenne was added as well as freshly ground black pepper. I added a little grated cheese and an extra dribble of olive oil.

These were fun to make and as I only made sufficient tortellini for two I still have pasta and filling left over. I have other plans for using these up.

These were richly different tortellini. They were smooth, peppery and satisfying to eat. I could certainly consider making these again.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔