Joy for a palate

For a couple years now, my standard starter for Easter lunch was Cannelloni with ricotta and spinach. Always used fresh, but storebought pasta, though.
Then I bought a pasta maker, the hand operated one, because I wasn't sure that would be something used a lot in my kitchen.
In fact, months passed before I used it for the very first time. But the result was amazing and those Ravioli with Pear and Cheese were like heaven. You would think I continued using it as often as I could, but no. I let it sit for months again.
And then suddenly I had an urge to try using it again.
First there was a recipe for cannelloni, not my standard one, but a new recipe (for me) with asparagus and potatoes (recipe to come).
I decided to make the pasta myself, but wasn't really sure how much I'd need (because the recipe called for storebought pasta). So I prepared a big quantity of dough, using 4 eggs. Of course half of that was more than enough, and looking at the rest of the dough, after lunch, after we enjoyed those wonderful cannelloni, and checking the fridge, tortelloni were made.

My husband's comments, first: "Who's going to eat those?", "Well I'm going to freeze them, and then we'll see.", "If you dare eating them all alone, I'll kill you!"
I got so scared :)))) that I waited until the following Sunday to prepare them and his comment, this time was: "See, to make ME happy, you need to prepare pasta, not desserts."
I can't say that for myself, I enjoy making and eating both, but desserts are my weekness. Although... did you know there are chocolate ravioli with chocolate and ricotta filling. Giving it a thought :))))

Indeed, these are such a joy for a palate, an explosion of flavours and fresh herbs fragrances, so beautifully blended with almonds.

Tortelloni Ricotta & Spinaci with Almond and Herb Sauce

(4 servings):
500 g fresh Ricotta and Spinach Tortelloni
50 g ground almonds
60 g grated Parmigiano Reggiano
2 teaspoons finely chopped chive
marjoram
parsley
basil
1 bay leaf
2 cloves of garlic
4 TBspoons milk
40 g butter
8 TBspoons EVOO
salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a skillet, add the chopped chive and marjoram leaves, stir, turn off the heat and set aside.
Using a blender or an immersion blender, mix together the garlic, the parmigiano and the oil. Add the ground almonds, chopped parsley and basil leaves (prefer the fresh ones), salt and pepper to your taste. Dilute everything with milk and then add to the skillet with the butter, chive and marjoram. Warm up on low heat.

In the meantime, bring a large pot of water with a bay leaf to boil. Salt it and cook the tortelloni until cooked al dente.
Drain them, place in a serving dish or bowl and season with the Almond and Herb sauce, stirring very gently.
Serve immediately and enjoy the silence, broken with a few mmmmmmmmmms, a sign evryone's enjoying them.



Per questa ricetta ho usato i tortelloni che abbiamo fatto insieme io e mia figlia, ormai un'aiutante che neanche con forza si fa allontanare dalla cucina quando comincio a fare qualcosa.
Comunque, non vi riporto qui la mia ricetta per i tortelloni (sicuramente lo farò in un altro momento), ma solo quella della salsa che ho usato per condirli, che, devo dire, è buonissima, profumatissima, assolutamente da provare. Certo che invece del solito condimento con burro e salvia, questi tortelloni speciali meritavano anche un condimento speciale, gustoso e profumato.

Tortelloni ricotta e spinaci con mandorle e aromi

(per 4 persone)
500 g tortelloni ricotta e spinaci freschi
50 g mandorle tritate finemente
60 g Parmigiano Reggiano
2 cucchiaini di erba cipollina
maggiorana
prezzemolo
basilico
1 foglia d’alloro
2 spicchi d’aglio
4 cucchiai di latte
40 g butter
8 cucchiai di EVOO
sale e pepe

Dorate il burro in una padella, unite la maggiorana e l’erba cipollina, mescolate e spegnete.
Frullate l’aglio con il parmigiano e l’olio, unite le mandorle, il prezzemolo e basilico tritati, aggiustate di sale e pepe.
Diluite il tutto con il latte e versatelo nella padella con il burro e le erbe. Scaldate a fuoco basso.
Cuocete i tortelloni in abbondante acqua salata con una foglia di alloro, scolateli al dente e conditeli con la salsa.



Par tjedana pred Uskrs napravila sam tortellone, uz veliku pomoć moje kćeri koja je vrijedno vrtila ručicu na stroju za tjesteninu, i sva važna zbog svoje nove kecelje. Trebala je to biti proba za Uskršnji ručak, ali se na kraju ispostavilo da su bili tako dobri da smo ih pojeli sve, a i pored najbolje namjere nisam ih uspjela ponovno napraviti za Uskrs.
Kad sam počela pisati ovaj članak htjela sam uključiti i cijeli recept i postupak za tortellone, ali mi se učinilo malo zamorno i predugo za strpati u jedan jedini članak, pa ćete mi oprostiti, obećavam da ću ga staviti nekom drugom prilikom.
Nema sumnje da se ne mogu uspoređivati kupljeni tortelloni (pa čak ako ih imate priliku kao ja kupiti svježe) s onima napravljenim kod kuće. Ipak znam da većina osoba nema ni vremena ni volje sama raditi ih. Ali zato ovaj umak možete spremiti jako brzo i bez muke, i za tren oka pripremiti gozbu.
Moj se balkon opet zeleni i miriše, prepun mirisnog bilja koje jednostavno obožavam. Tako da je za mene ovo bila izvrsna prilika za upotrijebiti ih.
S ovim receptom ujedno sudjelujem i u igri Ajme koliko nas je, koju je pokrenula Monsoon, a čija je domaćica ovog mjeseca Jasenka, s bloga Sweet corner odabrala temu orašasti plodovi i sjemenke.

Tortelloni s ricottom i špinatom u umaku od badema i mirisnog bilja

(za 4 osobe)
500 g svježih tortellona s ricottom i špinatom
50 g oguljenih badema
60 g naribanog parmezana
2 žličice nasjeckanog vlasca
mažuran
bosiljak
peršun
1 list lovora
2 češnja češnjaka
4 žlice mlijeka
40 g maslaca
4 žlice djevičanskog maslinovog ulja
sol i papar

Otopite maslac u tavi na laganoj vatri, dodajte nasjeckani vlasac i listiće mažurana, pa maknite s vatre.
Izmiksajte u blenderu (ili štapnim mikserom) naribani parmezan s 4 žlice maslinovog ulja i češnjakom (češnjak sam prvo protisnula kroz tijesak, da budem sigurna da je dobro usitnjen). Dodajte mljevene bademe, nasjeckane listiće peršuna i bosiljka (kol. po želji). Posolite i popaprite po ukusu.
Razrijedite smjesu mlijekom pa dodajte u tavu s maslacem i zagrijte sve skupa na jako laganoj vatri.
Skuhajte tortellone u posoljenoj vodi u koju ste dodali i list lovora. Kad su al dente ocijedite ih i pomiješajte s toplim umakom.