The most delicious starter to come out of Chef Ryan’s kitchen this year is this homemade pasta dish. It’s filled with flavour and absolutely beautiful to look at.
Although a lot of people are completely intimidated at the very idea of making their own pasta there really is nothing to be too concerned about. If you take your time and follow the instructions you will, in fact, see that it is a very easy dish to make. It does require some patience and a little skill and you may not get it perfect your first time around but keep persisting and you will absolutely reap the rewards. Everyone will be so glad you did!
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 100g cake flour
- 10ml olive oil
- 2 large beetroot
- ½ cup feta cheese
- Fresh parsley
- 1 cup balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup white sugar
Method
For the pasta
- Place the four on a clean work surface and make a well in the middle.
- Crack the egg into a bowl and beat it with a fork.
- Pour the egg into the centre of the flour along with the olive oil and slowly mix until the flour starts to form a dough.
- Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic.
- Cover with plastic wrap and rest for at least one hour.
For the filling
- Boil the beetroot (whole, do not cut the beetroot) over medium heat until cooked.
- Once cooked, drain and peel off the outer skin.
- Trim the sides off of the beetroots to form 2 cubes. Save the cubes for plating.
- Finely dice the off cuts of the beetroot and place in a mixing bowl.
- Finely chop the parsley and add to the beetroot.
- Crumble in the feta cheese into the beetroot mixture and combine.
- Season to taste.
For the tortellini
- Flatten the pasta and roll it through a pasta roller, starting from the widest setting and ending on the second finest setting.
- Lay the rolled pasta on a floured work surface and cut out discs using a large scone cutter.
- Place a teaspoon of beetroot and feta filling in the centre of the disc.
- With your thumb, dampen the edges of the pasta disc.
- Fold the disc in half, making sure there are no air pockets around the filling.
- Pinch the pasta together tightly to seal.
- Place the pasta parcel between your ring finger and pinky finger and clamp gently.
- Fold the tips of the pasta parcel around the back of your pinky finger and press together.
For the balsamic reduction
- Place the balsamic vinegar and sugar into a saucepan and simmer gently until it has reduced by half.
To plate
- Bring a pot of salted water to the boil.
- Boil the tortellini for 5 to 6 minutes.
- Once cooked, stain the tortellini and dress with a bit of olive oil.
- Cut the cubes of beetroot into dice and fry in butter.
- Place the beetroot dice and tortellini on a clean serving plate and dress with the balsamic reduction.
Enjoy!
