SQUASH TORTELLI

SQUASH TORTELLI

Ingredients for the filling:

1250g mashed ROUND GREEN SQUASH (a big squash or 2 small ones=44,09oz)

75g AMARETTO BISCUITS (=2,65oz)

100g APPLE MOSTARDA (=3,53oz)

750g PDO PARMIGIANO REGGIANO 24 months (26,46oz=7 ½ cups)

2 EGG YOLKS

TABLE SALT to taste

Ingredients for the dough:

9 EGGS (about 450g=15,87oz)

about 300g DARUM WHEAT SEMOLINA (=10,58oz= 1 ⅘ cups)

about 900g PLAIN FLOUR (=31,75oz= 7 ⅕ cups)

25g EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL (=0,88oz=2 tbsp)

TABLE SALT to taste

Ingredients for the sauce:

110g unsalted BUTTER (=3,88oz= ½ cup)

PDO PARMIGIANO REGGIANO 24 months to taste

Method:

Bake the squash according to the following method so as to avoid any burnt flesh (that might affect the taste). Clean the squash skin with a humid sponge to take away dirt and then remove the peduncle (it might burn if you don’t do so). Slightly grease the skin all around with extra-virgin olive oil (or any other edible oil). Lay on a tray covered with baking paper and bake at 200°C (=392°F) for about 1 hour: the amount of time really depends on the size of the squash (it can take up to 1 hour and a half). Check the softness with a pick and when ready let it cool down, then take skin and seeds away (the skin will come off so easily that you won’t slice squash anymore in order to bake it). 

In the meantime, grind amaretto biscuits, blend mostarda (fruit and liquid) so to get to a homogeneous texture and grate PDO Parmigiano Reggiano.

Once cooled down, mash the squash flesh, then add biscuits, mostarda, Parmigiano Reggiano and egg yolks. Mix everything patiently with the hands to get to a homogeneous result.

Let the filling rest in the fridge for 1 night.

The morning after, prepare the pasta dough breaking and weighing the eggs, then calculate the double of the egg weight and the result is the total amount of flour needed. Divide this amount in three parts: ⅓ darum wheat semolina and ⅔ plain flour. Add one pinch of table salt on every egg yolk and then add extra-virgin olive oil. Knead until it becomes smooth, elastic and homogeneous, then cover it carefully with plastic wrap. Let the pasta dough rest in the fridge for minimum 1 hour before using it.

After one hour, take the pasta dough out of the fridge and cut a little pasta (the right amount for 3-4 stripes of tortelli, according to the size of your pastry board). Always remember to cover the remaining pasta dough with its plastic wrap so as not to let it dry.

Roll the dough thin with a pasta machine: flatten a bit with your fingers or with a rolling pin and insert in the pasta machine between the rollers starting from the larger hole (setting the adjustment knob of the machine to 0). Decrease the thickness step by step and pass through the rollers each time until you get to your chosen thickness (my machine has 9 levels and I stop at 7 for tortelli, proceeding as follows: levels 1-3-5-7).

Lay the pasta sheets on the pastry board (without flouring the working surface), then lay quenelles of filling (I shape them using 2 spoons: the amount of filling should be less than half spoon) along an imaginary line in the middle of the pasta sheet. Fold the pasta sheet so to completely cover the filling. Press to seal, making sure to let all the air out (I usually use my left hand index finger in a straight position together with my right hand pinky finger curved so to touch the edge to the index). Cut with a pasta wheel providing a rectangular shape. Anytime you prepare a strip, you can re-use the scraps of the strip before (if they are still humid enough: don’t forget to knead them and wrap them with cling film right after having cut them out).

Lay the shaped tortelli on a cardboard tray (thanks to this pasta recipe you don’t need to flour your working surface nor the tray as it’s not a sticky one).

You will get about 180 squash tortelli with this recipe. You can decide to eat them all fresh (depending on the amount of tablemates) or you can freeze all or some.

In the latter case, in order to make sure they don’t break when cooking them frozen, you have to sear them. To do so, put a pot filled with water on the stove and bring to boil. Toss the tortelli in and cook for about 1 minute (until they start to wrinkle). Drain and lay them outdistanced on a table cloth for about 30 minutes (until room temperature and dry). Then place them on the cardboard tray and freeze them laying one tray at a time in the freezer (do not overlap trays or they will stick) for minimum half an hour (the more the better) and then move the frozen tortelli in a plastic freezer bag. 

To cook the tortelli (either fresh or frozen), put a pot filled with water on the stove at high flame. When water boils, add coarse salt. As it comes to boil again, toss the tortelli and stir gently with a perforated spoon. It will take about 3-4 minutes if fresh and 5-6 if frozen (and thus pre-seared).

In the meantime, melt butter in a small pot at low flame without frying it.

Strain tortelli with the perforated spoon and lay them in a wide colander to lose all the water (I usually place a soup plate below). Place 12 tortelli (this is the average serve per person) on each dinner plate.

Drizzle melted butter on top and then sprinkle some freshly grated PDO Parmigiano Reggiano. 

These are my sister’s favourite tortelli. I didn’t use to like squash tortelli in the past, so I never asked my granny to teach me how to make them. I regretted not having inquired, but it was too late. Then I tried Rina’s squash tortelli recipe and I thought they could resemble my granny’s ones. I made some little adjustments and I got my sister’s approval: they were as good as my granny’s!