Research from Travel Supermarket has found that more than a fifth of Brits believe food is the most important thing when choosing a holiday destination. To help people choose which holiday destination to go to next, Travel Supermarket ran the International Street Food Challenge in Shoreditch. It brought together amazing street food vendors from around the world, today, with the help of La Tua Pasta, Penny shares the inside tips on how to make tortelloni.
Being a real foodie I was gutted not to be able to attend the International Street Food Challenge. I come from a family of foodies, from my Grandmother who ran a colliery canteen, to my Dad the food scientist, the genes were passed on to my brother and I, so when I visit my brother in London I love nothing more than getting a fix of street food. His wife even held part of her hen do at a street food festival – heaven.
Luckily Travel Supermarket arranged for the lovely Jessica from La Tua Pasta, who specialise in fresh pasta, and especially tortelloni, to send me this recipe and a video. Having also been to Bologna in Italy with my Dad and the kids – which is famous for its tortellini, the same shape, but smaller than tortelloni – I was so excited to get this recipe. Did you know the shape of tortelleni is meant to resemble a women’s navel? Bologna is the taste bud blowing foodie capital of Italy, so do check out our guide to things to do with kids in Bologna, it is also very child friendly.
I’ve seen tortellini made once, by a Sicilian friend when I got together with the girls at Finder’s Cottage, it’s easy enough when you know how, and a really rewarding way to spend an afternoon, kids would love it too. I’ve also tasted Genoan Pesto in Genoa, visiting another of the same group of freinds who lived there for a while. So proper Italian food always makes me think of good friends and great travels.
How to make Tortelloni
Tortelloni Spinach & Ricotta served with Pesto Sauce
To find authentic Italian hand-made pasta in London, just visit La Tua Pasta stand in Borough Market! You can eat it on the go or purchase a pack of Tortelloni Spinach and a jar of Pesto Sauce… Simply cook it for a few minutes in boiling water and impress all of your friends!
However if you want to make it from scratch here are our tips!
For the filling
Ingredients:
250g fresh spinach leaves 125g Ricotta
50g Parmesan Cheese Pinch of Salt and Pepper Pinch of nutmeg
Preparation:
Pan fry the spinach leaves until they are tender and, once they are cooked, chop them. In a large bowl combine the Spinach with the Ricotta, the parmesan cheese, the salt, the pepper and the nutmeg and mix well.
For the pasta dough
Ingredients:
3 medium eggs
300g wheat flour
00 300g durum wheat
Pinch of salt
Preparation:
Place the flour on a board or in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into it and put the salt. Beat the eggs with a fork until smooth. Using the tips of your fingers, mix the eggs with the flour, incorporating a little at a time, until everything is combined. Once you have obtained the mix, you can knead it until you have a nice and soft dough. Then, roll your pasta in the traditional way (using a rolling pin like a proper Italian Mamma) or using a pasta machine until you obtain flat dough (1.5-2mm thickness)
How to fold the tortelloni
When the dough is flat-ready, cut some circles (a small size cup can help you to have the perfect shape).
Then, put a spoon of filling on the centre of each circle, and you are now ready to fold them using two easy steps:
1) fold them in half
2) Fold backward the two ends together in a tortelloni shape
How to make Genoan Pesto sauce
Italian pesto is regional variety of sauce stemming from Genova.
Ingredients:
1 clove of Garlic
A pinch of Salt
Half glass of Olive oil
1 spoon of pine nuts
6 spoon of Parmesan Cheese 2 spoon of Pecorino Cheese 50 g of Basil
Preparation:
Trim, mince and chop all the ingredients together and, once you obtain the consistence of a sauce, there you go! You have your pesto sauce made.
Cooking and serving of the pasta
Once the pasta is ready, cook it in salted boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Then serve it with some Pesto sauce.
Enjoy!
Check out the other amazing delights from the day, you don’t always need to leave the country to taste another culture. There are recipes and videos from all the vendors over at Travel Supermarket
