Chef's Recipes

Tortellini di patate e menthe con sugo

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for tortellini di patate e menthe con sugo by Carlo Havelberg from Da Noi.

  • 30 mins preparation
  • 1 hr 10 mins cooking plus resting, cooling
  • Serves 8
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Tortellini di patate e menthe con sugo
“This is a very traditional Sardinian dish. We use the mint we grow at a farm near owner/chef Pietro Porcu’s country restaurant, the Tearooms at Yarck. It tastes amazing when freshly picked. To make sure the potatoes don’t go soggy, drain them really well. You can even place them in a moderate oven for a minute or two to remove any excess water.” - Carlo Havelberg, Da Noi

Ingredients

  • 500 gm Nicola potatoes (about 2 large), unpeeled
  • 100 gm pecorino, finely grated, plus extra to serve
  • 70 ml garlic-infused olive oil (see note)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tbsp (firmly packed) mint, finely chopped
  • For drizzling: extra-virgin olive oil
Pasta dough
  • 350 gm (2 1/3 cups) plain flour, sieved
  • 100 gm fine semolina, plus extra for dusting
  • 4 eggs, plus 1 extra, lightly beaten, for brushing
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
Tomato sugo
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 small carrot, finely chopped
  • 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
  • 500 gm canned whole tomatoes
  • 20 basil leaves

Method

Main
  • 1
    For pasta dough, combine flour and semolina in a bowl, form a well in the centre. Combine eggs, oil and 50ml water in a separate bowl, add to well, slowly incorporate liquid until a dough forms. Turn onto a lightly floured surface, knead until smooth and elastic (5-7 minutes), wrap, set aside to rest (1 hour).
  • 2
    Meanwhile, place potatoes in a saucepan of cold water, cook over medium heat until just tender (20-25 minutes). Drain well, and when cool enough to handle, peel and pass through a potato ricer into a bowl. Cool to room temperature, stir through pecorino, garlic oil, egg and mint, season to taste and set aside.
  • 3
    Meanwhile, for tomato sugo, heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat, add onion, carrot and celery, stir occasionally until very tender (10-15 minutes). Add tomato, coarsely crush with the back of a wooden spoon, reduce heat to low and cook, skimming occasionally, until thick (15-20 minutes). Add basil, season to taste, pass through a mouli (see note) into a saucepan, set aside and keep warm.
  • 4
    Divide pasta dough into four pieces and, working with one piece at a time, dust lightly with flour and feed through a pasta machine, starting with rollers at widest setting. Fold in half, feed through again, then repeat, reducing settings notch by notch until dough is 2mm thick. Cut rounds from pasta with an 8cm-diameter cutter. Place a tablespoon of potato mixture in centre of each round, brush edges with egg, fold over to seal, brush corners with egg, press together. Place tortellini in a single layer on semolina-dusted trays until required.
  • 5
    Cook tortellini in batches in a saucepan of boiling salted water until cooked through (3-4 minutes). Remove with a slotted spoon, place in a large bowl, drizzle with olive oil, season to taste. Divide sugo among serving bowls, top with tortellini, scatter with extra pecorino, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and serve hot.

Notes

Garlic-infused olive oil is available from select delicatessens. A mouli is a hand-held rotary tool for grating and puréeing food; it is available from specialist kitchenware shops. Alternatively, coarsely process the sauce in a food processor.
This recipe is from the January 2010 issue of
.
Drink Suggestion: 2006 Yering Station Chardonnay

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