PORTUGUESE CHARM

 Tracy and Dennis

They took a cooking class at the beginning of July, but they had reserved it since january. They wanted to know how to make fresh Ravioli stuffed with pumpkin: this is what they wrote in their first email. It was good I got to know with so much advance as I might have not found pukin out of season, that is summer time. So I bought some and freezed it, ready for them on July.

Tracy told me about her love story with Dennis.......

... confessing me she is still so much in love with his Portuguese eyes.

Aren't they lovely?

TRACY & DENNIS, THANK YOU FOR YOUR GORGEOUS SMILES!

TORTELLI DI ZUCCA

PASTA STUFFED WITH PUMPKIN PUREE

Ingredients for 6:

Ingredients for filling:

1.5 kg ( 50 oz ) pumpkin

125 gr ( 4 oz ) mostarda of Cremona, finely chopped

125 gr ( 4 oz ) Amaretti bisquits, crushed

125 gr ( 4 oz ) fine dry breadcrumbs

50 gr ( 2 oz ) grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

2 eggs

freshly grated nutmeg

salt

grated rind of ½ lemon

Ingredient for the dough:

500 gr tender wheat flour

5 eggs

1 egg white lightly beaten

Ingredients for garnish:

75 gr ( 3 oz ) or more butter

50 gr ( 2 oz ) grated Parmigiano Reggiano

6 sage leaves

Filling:

To make the filling, peel and seed the pumpkin. Wrap in foil and bake in the oven at 200°C ( 400° F, gas mark 6) for 1 hour. Mash to a purèe and add the mostarda, amaretti, breadcrumbs, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, eggs, nutmeg, salt and lemon rind. Stir well and leave to rest for at least a couple of hours.

On a flat surface, prepare a “fountain” of flour: then add the eggs, salt , extra virgin olive oil and knead the paste for about 10 minutes until the mixture is smooth and elastic: wrap with a plastic film. Set aside for 30 minutes.

To make tortelli: Roll dough out very thinly into two equal rectangles. Place small mounds of filling the size of a walnut on one of these. Brush in between and around the mounds of filling with egg white. Cover with the second layer of dough and press the edges down well and make sure they are completely sealed and there is no air pockets. With a pastry cutter cut the tortelli into squares. Let them rest.

Cook a few at a time in boiling salted water for about 3 minutes until “ al dente”. Drain and serve with plenty of butter and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

* Variation:

Finely chopped almonds  may be used instead of Amaretti.