Pink Caramelle with Ricotta and Mushrooms

Trick or treat?
Both, I'd say. A trick because these caramelle (candies) are not real, sugar candies, but they're a type of pasta. Treat, because they are so delicious, you won't even be sorry you didn't get any candies  ^__^
I've had these on my mind for weeks, maybe even months. But the moment was never right, one or the other ingredient missing, no time, no something.
The idea was picked here and there, bits and pieces that I finally put together. Don't they look cute? Not only because of the colour, but the shape as well. As far as taste, you'll have to make them for yourself, as I'm keeping mine jealously for Sunday lunch, but if you think you can trust me... they're divine.

There's a bit of work when making homemade pasta, but the pleasure of serving it at the table will make you forget everything. And then even the game itself is worth it. Thinking about the shape, about the filling, about the seasoning. I must say I really enjoy the whole process from the beginning to the end. There are lot more ideas swirling through my brain, so I can't wait to take my pasta machine out again.
Have a great weekend everyone.

Pink Caramelle with Ricotta and Mushrooms

Pasta:
* 250 g flour
* 2 eggs
* 3 TBspoons beetroot juice
* a pinch of salt


Filling:
* 200 g ricotta cheese
* 150 g mixed mushrooms or only porcini
* 1 egg
* 2 TBspoons grated parmigiano cheese
* 1/2 small onion
* 10 g butter
* salt and pepper


For serving:
* butter
* sage leaves
* some porcini mushrooms, thinly sliced
* grated parmigiano

Sift the flour on the kneading board and form a deep well in the middle. Put the eggs and a pinch of salt in the middle. Start whisking them with a fork (gently, so they don't escape).
Add the beetroot juice, continue whisking with a fork, gradually adding the surrounding flour. At this point it is quite probable the eggs will start escaping so be quick in bringing everything together. Knead the pasta until homogeneous. In the beginning it may seem to stiff, but it will relax.
Wrap the thus formed dough in a piece of plastic wrap and let it rest about 1 hour at room temperature.

 

Divide the dough into 4-5 parts. Shape each into a little log and roll it out a little bit with a rolling pin dusting it generously with flour.
NOTE: when making filled pasta like ravioli, tortelloni and similar, I always work with one piece of the dough at a time - that is to say I complete the whole process from rolling the dough out to filling and shaping it before I take the another piece of pasta, avoiding thus the pasta getting dry and hard to shape, but it's also the question of space in my case.
Pass the rolled out piece of dough through the pasta maker (starting from mark 1 and passing to a higher number the next time; I usually end up with a very thin pasta, mark 8, on a scale from 1 to 9).

  

Cut the rolled out pasta into rectangles or squares (approx. 8x9, or 8x8 cm).
Put a small quantity of filling in the middle. Brush the edges of each rectangle with a little water. Roll the dough around the filling and then twist the two ends (basicly imagine you were wrapping a candy with a piece of wrapping paper.
Place the "candies" on a well floured cardboard tray or a mash pasta drying tray (picture on the right) and proceede with the nexte piece of the pasta waiting its turn.

 

The filling:
Slice or dice the mushrooms (I couldn't find any fresh porcini, so I used the frozen mixed mushrooms).
Finely chop the onion. Put it in a skillet in which you melted and heated the butter. Cook the onion on low heat until soft and translucent.
Add the mushrooms and sautee until they are soft and most of the liquid they release has evaporated. Add salt and pepper to your taste. Set to cool and then chop them very finely.
Whisk the ricotta cheese, the parmigiano and an egg in a bowl. Add the mushrooms. Check if you need more salt (I found the filling very, very tasty at this stage, almost ate it with a spoon).

Cooking and serving:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt it, lower the heat and add the pasta. It is important to cook the filled pasta in lightly simmering water, or it may loose it's filling in the cooking water, and you might find yourself with a bowl of cheese soup.
It takes no more than a couple minutes for pasta to get cooked.
Heat the butter with a 3-4 fresh sage leaves (if you have any mushrooms left add a couple slices as well).
Season the pasta with hot butter and serve with some grated parmigiano.

NOTE: fresh pasta should be cooked almost immediately. If you're making it in advance, then I suggest you freeze it (it will keep well in the freezer at least 3-4 months) - freeze on tray(s) and then move to freezing bags. When you want to cook it, there's no need to defrost it, just drop it in the boiling water.

Caramelle rosa con ricotta e funghi


Sfoglia:
* 250 g farina
* 2 uova
* 3 cucchiai di succo di barbabietole rosse
* un pizzico di sale


Ripieno:
* 200 g di ricotta soda
* 150 g di funghi misti o solo porcini
* 1 uovo
* 2 cucchiai di parmigiano grattugiato
* 1/2 cipolla piccola
* 10 g di burro
* sale e pepe


Per servire:
* burro
* salvia
* un po' di porcini affettati
* parmigiano grattugiato


Sfoglia:
Setacciate la farina e formate la classica fontana. Aggiungete le uova e sbattetele leggermente con una forchetta. Aggiungete il succo di barbabietola e continuando a sbattere con la forchetta cominciate a incorporare la farina. 
Impastate bene, avvolgetela con la pellicola e lasciatela riposare 1 ora a temperatura ambiente.
Dividete la pasta in 4-5 parti che lavorerete uno alla volta, lasciando il resto coperto con la pellicola.
Stendete ogni pezzo prima con il mattarello, infarinandolo bene, e poi con la macchina per la pasta (partendo dal numero più piccolo passando ai numeri più alti ad ogni passaggio - per la pasta ripiena di solito arrivo fino a 8, sulla scala da 1 a 9).
Tagliate la sfoglia in rettangoli o quadrati (circa 8x9 o 8x8 cm) e inumidite i bordi con un po' d'acqua. Mettete al centro un po' di ripieno e avvolgetelo con due latti opposti del rettangolo. Fate aderire la pasta intorno al ripieno e poi girate come per formare una caramella.
Lasciate le caramelle già formate su un vassoio di carta ben infarinato o sul apposito vassoio con la rete.


Ripieno:
Tagliate i funghi a pezzi o listarelle. Soffriggete la cipolla tagliata fine con il burro. Unite i funghi e fateli insaporire per qualche minuto (devono prima ammorbidirsi e poi asciugarsi quasi completamente). Salate e pepate.
In una terrina mescolate bene la ricotta con l'uovo e parmigiano. Unite i funghi, aggiustate di sale se necessario.


Cottura:
Portate a ebollizione una pentola con l'acqua. Salatela, abbassate la fiamma e mettete la pasta (per evitare che la pasta ripiena si apra in cottura e il suo prezioso contenuto viene perso, non cuocetela a fuoco troppo alto, basta che l'acqua sobbolle).
Scaldate il burro con qualche foglia di salvia fresca e condite la pasta. Servitela con parmigiano grattugiato.

Ružičaste karamele s ricottom i gljivama


Tijesto:
* 250 g brašna
* 2 cijela jaja
* 3 žlice soka od cikle
* prstohvat soli


Punjenje:
* 200 g čvrste ricotte
* 150 g miješanih gljiva ili samo vrganja
* 1 jaje
* 2 žlice naribanog parmezana
* 1/2 manje glavice crvenog luka
* 10 gmaslaca
* sol i papar


Posluživanje:
* maslac 
* 3-4 listića kadulje
* naribani parmezan


Prosijte brašno na dasku. Napravite veću udubinu u sredini (razmaknite brašno toliko da se vidi daska).
Razbijte jaja u sredinu i prstohvat soli  i lagano ih razmutite vilicom.
Dodajte sok od cikle i polako umiješajte vilicom u jaja, a onda postepeno dodajite okolno brašno (pazite jer jaja lako pobjegnu van).
Zamijeste čvrsto tijesto (može vam trebati malo manje ili više brašna ovisno o veličini jaja).
Omotajte tijesto prozirnom folijom da se ne osuši i ostavite ga da se odmara 1 sat na sobnoj temperaturi.
Podijelite tijesto na 4-5 dijelova.
Svaki prvo malo razvaljajte oklagijom na pobrašnjenoj dasci, a onda rastanjite na stroju za tjesteninu što tanje (ja rastanjim do 8 na skali od 1-9).
Radite s jednim po jednim dijelom tijesta dok vam je ostatak pokriven da se ne suši.
Rastanjeno tijesto izrežite na pravokutnike (moji su bili 8x9 cm) ili kvadrate.
Stavite na sredinu žličicu nadjeva i prvo zarolajte (navlažite rubove vodom da se bolje zalijepe), stisnite tijesto oko nadjeva, a onda uvrnite krajeve kao papir za karamele.
Stavljajte ih na pobrašnjeni kartonski pladanj (ili ovakav pladanj za sušenje s mrežicom).
Ostavite ih da se prosuše 10-ak minuta, a onda ih ili odmah kuhajte ili zamrznite na pladnju pa premjestite u vrećice i čuvajte u zamrzivaču do upotrebe (3-4 mjeseca). Smrznutu tjesteninu ne odmrzavati već staviti kuhati smrznutu u kipuću vodu.
Imala sam malo viška tijesta pa sam ga samo izrezala na rezance/ tagliatelle.


Punjenje od ricotte i gljiva:
Očistitte luk i što sitnije ga nasjeckajte.
Zagrijte u tavi malo maslaca (oko 10 g), popržite luk dok ne postane staklast, dodajte narezane gljive i pirjajte ih dok ne odmeknu i voda koju su pustile skoro sva ispari. Posolite i popaprite po ukusu.
Posolite i popaprite, ostavite da se prohlade, a onda ih još dodatno sitno isjeckajte.
*ja sam imala samo smrznute gljive (miješane).
Pomiješajte ricottu i jaje u zdjeli.
Dodajte gljive i parmezan, po potrebi još dosolite.


Priprema i posluživanje:
Skuhajte tjesteninu u dosta posoljene ključale vode. Neka voda ne ključa jako (kad proključa smanjite vatru i dodajte tjesteninu), da se pasta ne bi otvorila i punjenje iscurilo (ovo vrijedi za sve vrste punjene tjestenine).
Potrebno je svega par minuta da se skuha.
U međuvremenu zagrijte u tavi maslac s listićima kadulje i malo gljiva nasjeckanih na listiće (može i samo maslac i kadulja).
Dodajte kuhanu tjesteninu, pažljivo promiješajte i poslužite s naribanim parmezanom.