I’m a huge fan of tortellini. Each little piece is a meal. Fill with whatever seasonal vegetables you wish. Blitz everything together in a food processor or blender for a smooth and creamy texture.
To sauce these, I love a light butter/olive oil blend (equal parts work nicely, about 1 tablespoon of each per cup of tortellini), pesto (store-bought is fine), or broth/brodo (again, store-bought is fine, quality is key here, worth the splurge). For the latter, feel free to make a simple soup (mirepoix + whatever you have on hand) or forgo the other ingredients. Either way, it’s a meal on its own.
You can, by all means, make or buy homemade pasta sheets. Using a 3” biscuit cutter, cut circles and fill. As a shortcut, I love using circle dumpling wrappers; again, you can get the square wonton wrappers and cut. These can be found at any grocery store.
The drawing below will (hopefully) help you form and fill these fun little pillows.
Let me know how it goes, xo.
Spring Pea Tortellini Filling
Makes 2 cups
½ frozen peas, thawed (if seasonal, use freshly shucked and blanched)
1 lemon, zested
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 cup high-quality, low-moisture ricotta cheese
Salt, to taste
1 egg, for egg wash
AP flour, “bench flour” for dusting and preventing tortellini from being too wet
In a medium bowl, mash peas using a potato masher or fork. Season with lemon zest, olive oil, and salt. Continue to mash until desired chuckiness or smoothness is achieved. Stir in cheese and taste again for seasoning. Beat egg wash and fill each tortellini with a scant tablespoon of filling. LESS IS MORE!
Egg wash: beat the egg to seal the tortellini.