Tortellini

Ingredients:

1kg of flesh from a pumpkin
100g crushed Amaretti
100g grated Parmesan
100g raisins
100g mostarda, a sort of Northern Italian pickle you can buy in little jars.
Season with a little grated nutmeg
500g flour (white flour and a little semolina)
3 Eggs
4-6 Sage leaves
3 Tbs. of butter
Grated Parmesan

Directions: A step-by-step visual diagram to make cooking for you easier

Roast a pumpkin in the oven, peel and scrape 1kg of flesh. Add 100gr crushed amaretti, 100gr grated Parmesan, 100gr raisins and 100gr mostarda, a sort of Northern Italian pickle you can buy in little jars. Season with a little grated nutmeg

Chop everything together. Do not use a mixer, you want to keep some texture

Cover and leave in the fridge until ready, if possible overnight or at least one hour

Make a little volcano with about 500gr flour (white flour and a little semolina) and add the eggs

Beat the eggs

Combine the eggs with the flour

When the eggs do not risk running off the volcano any more, cover with the flour on the sides of the volcano. Continue until you start to have a solid mass and add the remaining flour

Avoid using the little lumps that remain on your fingers as these will puncture your dough

Stop when you have a solid, smooth ball. You may have to add a little water (teaspoon by teaspon) or some more flour to get the texture right. This very much depends on the size of your eggs, but as a rule of thumb one large eggs requires about 100gr of flour. Wrap in foil and leave to rest in the fridge 30 to 60 minutes

Use a large rolling pin to flatten the dough with swift front to back movements. You don't want to squeeze the dough by resting on top your rolling pin but rather encourage it to expand by stroking it back and forth. If you push too much you'll break it. Of course one could use a pasta machine but since you may not have one, this is a method on how to do it with a rolling pin. Continue until the dough is less than 1mm thick

Prepare the filling, a glass and a spoon

With the glass cut circles from the dough. On the picture I cut one out and inverted the glass, you can see the disc of dough covering the glass until you put your finger in it

Take a disc of pasta in your hand and add a small spoonful of filling well off center but keeping clear of the edge. Don't try to put too much dough or you'll break the dough and lose the tortellini

Fold in half

The tradition of Cremona calls for tortelli (no 'N'), which are exactly this, a disc of dough filled and folded in half. End of story. But tortellini looks better, so that's what is made. Join both ends of the tortelli over your little finger like on the picture. Press well to seal the edges off and for the tortellino to keep its shape. You can wet your fingers with water to help

Continue until you run out of filling...

... or of dough

These tortellini are so good that anything but the most subtle sauce will only ruin the balance of flavors. Melt as much butter as your diet can afford and lightly heat sage leaves

No frying, no high heat, we merely infuse the fat-soluble flavor of the sage into the butter

Bring to a fiery boil as much salted water as your largest pot will contain. Delicately - DELICATELY - immerge your tortellini into the water, if possible using a slotted spoon. Boil them for about 1 minute. Remove them with a slotted spoon. Do NOT pour the entire pot down the drain over some sieve or you'll break your tortellini