Here is a seasonal winter pasta recipe using chestnuts and white truffles. Chestnuts are rich and flavorful with the earthiness of white truffle gives this pasta an over the top flavor. I love stuffed pastas and I thought a little cheese with the chestnuts would round out the dish. Nothing to difficult just a few expensive ingredients. Here is the recipe I hope you enjoy it!
Recipe Ingredients
Chestnut and cheese filling
10 oz of boiled chestnuts
8 oz of ricotta cheese
2 oz of petite basque
salt and pepper
How to make Pasta dough see recipe
How to make Celery root puree see recipe
1 1/2 sticks of butter
6 oz of pasta water
1 tsp white truffle oil (optional)
1 white truffle shaved
Recipe Instructions
How to make the pasta Filling,
Place all the ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and place in a plastic pastry bag and keep cool.
How to make Pasta
Place 2 cups of flour with semolina in a bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour. Add eggs, water, and salt. With a fork stir the egg mixture until it starts to form a ball of dough. Then use your hands to form the dough. Add more flour if the dough is wet. Knead the pasta for 5 minutes and then cover and raring
Take your pasta and cut in half. Leave one half covered while you work with the other half. Take the half of the pasta with a rolling pin and roll until the dough is thin enough to fit inside the biggest setting on your pasta machine ( I use the kitchenaid attachment). Then run the pasta all the way down to the lowest setting twice. Dusting the dough with flour if it is too wet. Then on the third time run it down to the second to last setting. Again, Use a little flour for dusting. You should have long sheets at this point. Using your pastry bag pipe the cheese mixture along the bottom of the pasta leaving about a 1/2 inch from the edge.
Run it along the whole length of the pasta sheet leaving about an inch or two at the ends (one long tube of filling). Then take a pastry brush or spray bottle of water and brush the top portion of the pasta sheet. Take the bottom part pasta closest to the filling and roll over to the brushed top portion. You should now have a long tube like pasta running all the way down the length of the pasta. Now, at every 1/2 inch use your index fingers and press down with with each index finger to create a little "ravioli" Continue the same thing all the way down the pasta sheet. Then using a pinwheel cutter cut away the excess pasta at the top. Then cut in between each press that you make with your fingers to create each agnolotti. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and extra semolina flour to help prevent sticking. Set aside while you aside while you repeat the same process with the other half of the pasta ball.
How to make truffle agnolotti,
Place your chestnut agnolotti pasta in salted boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes until they float to the top. Strain off and place in the saute pan with a little bit of pasta water, add the butter to emulsify into the water and pasta. Season with salt. Place a spoonful of celery root puree in the bottom of the bowl. Then place 3-4 pieces of the agnolotti on top. Spoon a little of the butter sauce on top. Grate fresh parmesan on top, add chives, and fresh shave white truffles (add a little truffle oil if your truffles are lacking in a flavor). Serve and enjoy!
