Mixed Cheese Tortellini with Red Pepper Pesto

 

Basic Pasta Recipe:

(Serves 4-6 people)

500 g strong white bread flour

5 large free-range eggs

extra white bread flour, for dusting surface

pinch of fine salt

Making the dough by hand: Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the eggs and fine salt into the middle. Using a fork, break up the eggs, mixing from the centre outwards. Now start to take more and more flour from the outsides working the dough with your hands until it comes together and becomes smooth and elastic. This takes about 2-3 minutes of kneading on a floured surface. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and allow it to rest in the fridge for 60 minutes.

 

 

The next step is to role the pasta out with a pasta machine. Remove your dough from the fridge and work it on a floured surface until smooth and pliable again. Divide the dough into manageable portions, three to four balls. Now set the pasta machine on the  widest setting and role one of the pasta balls through once.
Set the pasta machine to the next setting to roll an even thinner sheet. Roll the pasta sheet once. Continue like this until your pasta sheet is about 1 mm thick.

Use a damp cloth to keep the pasta dough from drying out as your are cutting and rolling your pasta sheets.

I generally use a cookie cutter to cut my pasta in round shapes.

Prepare the filling: The filling is very easy to prepare. I like to use some strong cheese like finely grated Parmesan, ricotta, pecorino and even a mature cheddar. Mix the grated cheese in a bowl and add a bunch of freshly chopped basil and salt and pepper. You can be creative with the combination and cheeses, but try to not use too much of one cheese as the flavour can become quite over-powering. A binding cheese that is moist like ricotta, works well to bind the other cheeses together.

Brush the circles of pasta with some egg and place a teaspoon of filling onto the centre of every circle. 

Now fold the pasta circle into a half circle, sealing it well on the edges. Add a little more egg to the sharp points of the half circle and pinch those two points together. Set aside and continue with all your circles.

To cook: Bring a big pot of well salted water to the boil and quickly boil your Tortellini until they float to the top of the water (5-10 minutes). I always taste one just to be sure that they are cooked through.

Drain the Tortellini and while still hot, mix them with a pesto of your choice. Serve with an extra drizzle of good quality olive oil, Parmesan shavings, soft herbs and some freshly ground black pepper.

Canadian Buttermilk Pancakes

Does the world really need another pancake recipe, is a good question to ask at this stage... I thought I'd share my story of how I became known as the 'pancake-asaurus' in our family. Yes, that was one of those little family words that we took the liberty of making up based on the amount of fluffy Canadian pancakes I could pack away, leaving my bigger brothers in the dust at age three.

As I've mentioned on my blog before, my childhood was filled with vibrant adventures with my family that took us from living in a desert country on the West Coast of Africa to a small village in Canada where my father worked as a doctor. If there's one thing that the Canadians added to our quirky array of culinary favourites it is breakfast pancakes with maple syrup and bacon. To this day when we have family gatherings it usually involves my father (who's specialties include this, and cooking fish to absolute perfection) to don my mother's apron and get his hands dirty.

So, living back in Southern Africa today we take it upon ourselves to educate our friends and family about the absolute wonder that is pure, imported maple syrup combined with salty bacon and a knob of melted butter. Even my husband has had to resolve himself to the fact that this is one bit of Canada he can't get out of me and he's embraced it to become part of our repertoire. I must say, my husband and I have added fresh berries and Bulgarian yoghurt to the mix. Yes, that's Bulgarian yoghurt with bacon, I know what you are thinking... 

So on that note, if you haven't tried this combination, I'd strongly recommend it. Here's a delicious recipe for buttermilk pancakes I love to make:

Canadian Buttermilk Pancakes

(Makes 14 portions)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp (45 ml) granulated sugar
• 1 tsp (5 ml) baking powder
• 1 tsp (5 ml) baking soda
• 1/4 tsp (1 ml) salt
• 1 3/4 cups (425 ml) buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp (30 ml) butter, melted
• 2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) canola oil

Method:

In large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, butter and vanilla.
Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and whisk until combined and smooth.
Lightly brush large nonstick pan with some of the oil. Heat the pan over medium-high heat.
Using a 1/4 cup per pancake, pour the batter into the pan and allow it to spread slightly to form pancakes. Cook until bubbles appear on top, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook until the bottom is golden brown, about 1 minute. Transfer to a platter, cover and keep warm at 120°C in the oven.