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Swiss chard tortelli with salad

Wonderful homemade pasta served in a delicious sage butter sauce

Preparation time
1-2 hours

Cooking time
10 to 30 mins

Serves
Serves 4

By Gennaro Contaldo
From Saturday Kitchen

Ingredients

For the pasta dough

  • 200g/7oz ‘00′ flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 2 free-range eggs

For the filling

  • 400g/14oz Swiss chard, ideally a variety of colours
  • drizzle extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove, lightly smashed
  • 100g/3½oz fresh ricotta, drained
  • 25g/1oz Parmesan, grated, plus extra to serve
  • 1 free-range egg yolk
  • 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the salad

  • handful leftover Swiss chard stalks
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • squeeze lemon juice (optional)

For the sauce

  • 100g/3½oz butter
  • 8 fresh sage leaves

Method

  1. To make the pasta dough, place the flour in a mixing bowl or in a heap on a clean work surface, make a well in the centre and break in the eggs. Use a fork to gradually mix the flour and eggs together, then knead with your hands to make a smooth dough.

  2. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes or until required.

  3. In the meantime, prepare the filling. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Remove the stalks from the Swiss chard (keep them for use in the salad). Add the leaves to the pan of boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes, then drain well.

  4. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a frying pan. Add the garlic and sweat over a medium heat for a minute, then add the drained Swiss chard and stir-fry for a couple of minutes.

  5. Remove from the heat, discard the garlic clove, then leave the Swiss chard to cool. Once cooled, drain, then use your hands to squeeze out the excess liquid. Finely chop the Swiss chard and combine it in a bowl with the ricotta, grated Parmesan, egg yolk, nutmeg and a little salt and pepper. Set aside.

  6. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pasta dough until it is wafer-thin or use a pasta machine on the thinnest setting. Cut out 8cm/3¼in circles of dough using a round pastry cutter (about 30 circles). Place a teaspoon of the filling in the centre of each circle, brush the outer edge of each with a little water, then fold over to make a half-moon shape. Press to seal and make light indentions with a fork.

  7. To make the salad, blanch the stalks whole for 2 minutes in a pan of boiling water then drain. Fry the garlic in oil for 1 minute. Add the stalks and fry for 2 minutes. Pour into a bowl, season with salt, some oil if needed and a squeeze of lemon. Set aside.

  8. To cook the tortelli, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, then add the tortelli and cook for about 5 minutes until cooked through – try one to check!

  9. At the same time, for the sauce, melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat, then add the sage leaves and cook until the leaves are bubbling, 2–3 minutes.

  10. Use a slotted spoon to remove the tortelli from the boiling water, then add to the melted sage butter and gently mix together. Remove from the heat and serve in pasta bowls with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan and the chard stem salad.

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