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salmon tortellini in parsley pesto.


the latest of my pasta adventures involved my love of salmon, attempts at tiny tortellini and a pesto adapted for seafood with a hint of parsley. i love making homemade pasta when i've got a spare weekend afternoon as i find it very therapeutic to make and then of course you have a lovely weekend meal at the end of it. 

shopping list.
(serves two for a main meal)
for the pasta dough
♥ two eggs
♥ 200g "00"grade pasta flour
♥ a pinch of salt
♥ a dash of olive oil

for the salmon filling
♥ two salmon fillets
♥ a tbsp crème fraîche
♥ salt & pepper

for the parsley pesto
♥ 50g pine nuts
♥ 50g parmigiano reggiano, plus extra for serving
♥ 25g fresh parsley
♥ 25 fresh basil
♥ a dash of olive oil

equipment
♥ a mixer with dough hook
♥ a pasta maker
♥ a 3"diameter cutter
♥ rolling pin
♥ blender or chopper

step one. grill or bake your salmon with just a little seasoning. i like to wrap mine up in foil with olive oil for 25 minutes on 180 degrees.


step two. when totally cool, mix in the crème fraîche and season if needed. check and remove any bones. set aside in the fridge.


step three. time to make the pasta! begin by mixing together the pasta dough ingredients with a dough hook attachment on a medium speed. in a few minutes it should form together into a ball. if it happens to be too dry, you can add water or olive oil. if it is too wet, add pasta flour.

i used to make pasta the traditional way however since i got a dough hook and tried this way out, i haven't looked back. 


step four. divide up into more manageable dough balls. use a rolling pin to flatten. then feed through your pasta machine, gradually decreasing the size of the gap, to form thin sheets.



step five. on a floured surface, lay out the pasta sheets and cut out a few circles at a time.  


step six. lay a teaspoon of mix in the middle of the round. be careful not to get too excited and overfill here. dab a little water around the edges.

step seven. fold over the pasta into a semi circle shape.


step eight. carefully pinch together the opposite ends of the pasta like so. ensure all the edges are tightly sealed.



step nine. repeat many times. (i counted 34 tortellinis!) proceed to take many instagram pictures of your efforts.

there is another way to make tortellini where you twist it round your finger, but that sounded like it'd be more fiddly and would have less filling so i opted for this easier way.


step ten. to make the pesto, toast the pine nuts and then whizz together all the ingredients in a blender. alternatively, you can chop it all up yourself and get a work out in the process.


step eleven. bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and drop in the pasta. i did mine all at once but if you think it'll be a squeeze then do a little at a time. boil for 3-5 minutes until the pasta rises to the top of the water.


step twelve. toss through the pesto, season with salt and pepper and grate parmigiano reggiano on top. 



do you have any favourite tortellini recipes? have you ever made pasta at home before?

11 comments:

  1. Wow! You've made making pasta look so easy... I might just have to give it a go :) We've just got a dough hook for our mixer so I should try it out really!

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    1. Thank you :) It's not too bad you just need patience and time. Let me know what you make!

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  2. These look absolutely delicious, and really quite simple! I made pasta on the weekend for pierogi, which I'll be posting next week whilst I'm away but making pasta is quite therapeutic as it requires concentration and takes a while to do, which is nice! x

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  3. Gimme gimme gimme! Played a very fun game of spot the bumcheek tortellini with this post, Am impressed with your awesome pasta making skills! They look dead professional.

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    1. Hehe! The shape in general is a bit bum cheek-ish to be honest. Glad you like the post :)

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  4. They look so beautiful! I have been threatening to try to make my own pasta for a while - but never made that jump! This may be the month....

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  5. You make it look so easy and the step by step photos give me the confidence that I could give it a go. I'd certainly enjoy eating it!

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  6. This sounds delicious, I've never made my own pasta, maybe this is the recipe to try it out on?

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