This is possibly one of my favourite things in the world, this recipe is enough just for me. It does take some time to do. Unfortunately no store bought filled pasta can substitute this beauty.
Oxtail Tortellini
Oxtail filling ingredients
500 g cooked oxtail, meat onlycan be substituted with a braised neck or even lamb tails
1/3 C (80 ml) braising liquid
¼ tsp lemon zest
80 g cream cheese
3 tsp (15 ml) chopped parsley
2 Tbsp (30 ml) Parmesan, grated (more if necessary)
10 – 15 sage leaves
black pepper
60 g butter
1 C (250 ml) fresh Parmesan cheese
Oxtail filling
Chop the braised oxtail meat to about a 2 – 3 mm dice, add the lemon zest, parsley, cream cheese and Parmesan. Add some of the braising liquid to moisten. Adjust the seasoning and add the parsley. Mix to combine.
Make 36 equal size balls of filling (approximately 15 g per ball).
To make
Place a sheet of pasta dough onto a floured surface (I like using semolina for this, it’s slightly gritty and allows you to work with the pasta more easily). Cut into rounds of about 7 – 8 cm diameter.
Place one filling ball onto the centre of each round. Fold the pasta over filling so it resembles a half moon and squeeze edges to seal. Take the two ends and bring them together overlapping slightly – not by the easiest route, but rather horizontally across, folding the thickest part around your finger and bringing the ends together. Squeeze and place onto a floured surface.
Fill a large saucepan with salted water and bring to the boil. Cook for a few minutes until al dente. Refresh in cold ice water if you are not going to use immediately.
To finish
Heat the butter in a non-stick saucepan. Add the sage leaves and allow to crisp up a little.
Add the heated tortellini and toss to coat. It is preferable if the butter turns to a beurre noisette, having a beautiful nutty flavour.
Season to taste and top with Parmesan.
for the dough
Enriched Pasta Dough for Tortellini
500 g “00” flour (Doppio Zero)
1 tsp (5 ml) salt
4 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 Tbsp (15 ml) olive oil
Place all of the ingredients into a food processor and combine.
Turn the dough out and knead for about 3 – 4 minutes. Wrap in plastic wrap and rest in a cool place for at least 30 minutes.
Unwrap the dough and press it out by hand as thinly as possible, in order to fit into the pasta machine. Roll the pasta through the machine, continuously adjusting the setting to be thinner and thinner. Roll the pasta to approximately a 1 mm thickness.
