I love playing with homemade pasta- the different ratios of flour can change a dish completely and I am 100% willing to try all of the combinations I can until I master it. 

Tortellini are little ring-shaped pasta, sometimes also described as “navel shaped”, which led to their alternative name of “belly button.” I don’t know why anyone would nickname a delicious pasta after a weird body part, but that doesn’t take away from how good these are.

When making cheesy pasta I like to pair it with light vegetables that let the tortellini shine, so often the great taste of the pasta gets lost in heavy sauces.

And adding a little spinach makes it healthy, right?

They are cheesy and delicious!

Ingredients:

For the pasta: 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 cup semolina flour, 2 eggs, 1 egg yolk, 2 teaspoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt.

For the tortellini filling: 2 egg yolks, 2 Tbsp bread crumbs, 2 tsp fresh thyme, 2 Tbsp parsley, 6 Tbsp ricotta cheese, 6 Tbsp grated parmesan, S&P to taste.

For the sauce: 2 tomatoes diced, 2 cloves garlic, 1/4 cup onion minced, 1/2 cup pasta  vegetable stock (you could also use pasta water), a few handfuls of spinach

Recipe: 

In a bowl add your pasta flour, make a small dome in the center and add the egg, with a fork gradually incorporate the egg into the flour- add oil and salt. Once everything comes together dump onto a floured surface and knead the dough for about 8 minutes, or until it springs back to the touch. Roll of the pasta into thin sheets using a pasta machine or a rolling pin. Cut into 2 inch rounds and cover with saran wrap until ready to use.

Combine all of the filling ingredients in a small bowl. To assemble the tortellini place 2 tsps of filling on each 2″ round of pasta. Seal edges with a little water, fold and seal into belly button shape.

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water for about 4 minutes (fresh pasta cooks faster than dried)

In a saute pan heat some olive oil. Add garlic and onion and suet until translucent, add the diced tomatoes and a touch of the stock and let it cook down. As the liquid cooks out, add a bit at a time. add the pasta to the pan along with a few handfuls of spinach. Once the spinach wilts remove and serve immediately. Top with a little shredded parmesan.

Happy eating!

There is something simply perfect about gnocchi in my opinion. It’s as if pasta and mashed potatoes got together and had a little baby. A gnocchi baby.

Until today gnocchi was that thing on a menu that was a treat left for restaurants. I thought that I couldn’t possibly make it taste as good at home, but boy was I wrong.

With some recent restaurant inspiration I decided a mushroom cream and spinach gnocchi would be the way to go.

Gnocchi isn’t as hard as I had previously thought and cooking it up successfully while dancing around in my kitchen to old school country music and sipping on some brew made my Sunday night.

This batch makes a good 85-100 gnocchi so I decided to freeze 3 of the sections for another day.

I just love how cute they are.

There are endless options when it comes to sauces for gnocchi, but this creamy mushroom and spinach sauce is pretty incredible.

Now all you have to do is gobble it up!

Recipe:

For the gnocchi: 2 pounds of russet potatoes, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 1/4 all purpose flour.

For the sauce: 4-6 ounces portobello mushrooms, 2 cups vegetable broth, 1/2 tbsp butter, 1 small shallot, 1 clove garlic, 1 tsp thyme, 1/4 cup half and half, 1/4 cup parmesan, 1 cup fresh spinach, S&P to taste.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, and bake the potatoes for 1 hour. After an hour let the potatoes cool a bit and then peel the skin off. Run the potatoes through a potato ricer, or if you don’t have one push them through a strainer. Cool the potatoes to lukewarm and add the egg and salt, mix together well. Then start adding the flour, about 1/2 cup at a time. The goal is to make a dough that will not stick to your hands.

Once the dough has formed, knead it on the counter for a minute or two. Then cut into 4 sections, one section at a time roll out into a thin rope. With a sharp knife dice along the rope in about 1 inch cuts.

To cook the gnocchi heat a pot of boiling water and in small batches cook the gnocchi for about 2 minutes, or until they float to the surface.

For the sauce: Melt the butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the shallots, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and saute for 2 minutes. Add the shiitake mushrooms and saute another 3 minutes.  Add 1 cup warm vegetable broth and simmer at medium-high heat until it is reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Add the half-and-half and parmesan and simmer until it thickens, about 2-4 minutes. Add a cup of chopped spinach toward the end of the cooking time.

Once the spinach has wilted a bit, add the gnocchi into the pan to mix. Then plate it up and serve!

Enjoy and happy eating!