Three Cheese Tortellini From Scratch

Tortellini is one of my favorite pastas. It makes a great main dish when served with your favorite sauce, and it also makes an excellent addition to your favorite soup recipe. It is a bit time consuming to make from scratch, but the end result is totally worth it. Your taste buds will thank you!

Ingredients:

Pasta Dough
1 ½ cups Semolina Flour
½ tsp. Salt
2 Eggs (Beaten)
2 Tbsp. Water
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
All purpose flour for dusting
Small bowl of water for shaping the pasta

Filling
½ cup Ricotta Cheese
¼ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
¼ cup Grated Mozzarella Cheese (I pulse shredded mozzarella in the food processor until its is finely chopped.)
Pinch of Black Pepper
Pinch of Nutmeg

(Optional) Quick and Easy Marinara Sauce
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1/3 cup Onion, diced
2 large Garlic Cloves, minced
1 28oz can Crushed Tomatoes
½ tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Oregano, dried
1 tsp. Basil, dried
1 tsp. Parsley, dried
½ tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

1. Add the flour and salt to the bowl of your stand mixer.
2. Attach the dough hook and spin it on low speed a few rotations to mix together the flour and salt.
3. Turn the mixer off and raise the hook. Add the water, olive oil, and beaten eggs to the bowl.
4. Lower the dough hook, and turn your mixer on low until a stiff dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
5. Run the mixer 4 minutes longer on low speed to knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for one additional minute.
7. Form the dough into a slightly flattened ball.
8. Wrap in plastic wrap or place in a plastic bag, and let the dough rest for at least 20 minutes.


(If you don't have a stand mixer, mix in a bowl with a spoon as much as you can and then mix it by hand. Once the dough is formed, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for about 10 minutes.)

Combine all of the filling ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir with a spoon until well combined.

Remove the dough from the plastic wrap or bag. Separate the dough into 4 equal pieces. Set one piece on a floured surface. Re-cover the other 3 pieces in plastic and follow these steps using one piece of dough at a time. Be sure to keep your work surface and both sides of the dough lightly floured at all times. (If rolling by hand omit steps that include the pasta roller. Roll out into rectangle shapes as thin as you can with a rolling pin.)

1. Form the dough piece into a flattened rectangle shape that will fit into your pasta roller.
2. Pass the dough through the roller 2 times at its widest setting.
3. Pass the dough through the roller 2 times at a medium setting.
4. Pass the dough through the roller 2 times at one setting above the thinnest setting.
5. Transfer your rolled dough to a lightly floured surface.
6. With a pastry wheel or pizza cutter, cut the dough into 3” squares.

1. Place ½ teaspoon of filling in the center of each square.
2. Dip your finger in a small bowl of water, and wet 2 connecting edges of a square (see photo).
3. Lift the corner of the 2 dry edges of the square, and fold it over to line up with the corner of the wet edges of the square. Press down gently to seal the corners together.
4. Press down gently from the tip all the way down the side edges to seal them together and form a triangle.
5. Take the two outside corners of the triangle and bring them together up over the filled center, overlapping them. Pinch to seal them together. (Place a dab of water in between the overlapped pieces to help them stick together if necessary.)
6. Place your finished tortellini on a well floured baking sheet.
7. Repeat steps 2-6 for each square.

To freeze:
Put the cookie sheet with a single layer of tortellini in the freezer for 1-2 hours, then transfer from the cookie sheet to a zip lock freezer bag.

To cook:
Boil in a large pot of water for about 4 minutes (a bit longer if frozen). The tortellini is done when they all float to the top.

Top the tortellini with this Quick and Easy Marinara Sauce for a tasty main dish:

1. Dice the onions and mince the garlic.
2. In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium low heat. (Don't turn the heat up too high because olive oil has a low smoke point.)
3. Add the onions and garlic.
4. Saute for 3 to 5 minutes until the onions are tender and the garlic is golden brown.
5. Add the crushed tomatoes, salt, sugar, oregano, basil, parsley, and crushed red pepper flakes.
6. Stir to combine.
7. When the sauce begins to boil, reduce heat and cover.
8. Simmer at least 10 minutes.