Serves 2
For the Cauliflower Filling
- ½ Large Cauliflower broken into florets
- 125g Mascarpone
- Juice of ½ Lemon, Zest of 1 Lemon
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 50g Parmesan
- Salt and Pepper
For the Pasta
- 100g ’00’ Pasta Flour
- 1 Medium Egg
- Pinch of salt
For the Parmesan Tuile
- 30g Grated Parmesan Cheese
For the Cauliflower Pesto
- ½ Clove of garlic, thinly sliced
- Sunflower oil, for frying
- 200ml Olive oil
- 80g cauliflower florets, very small
- ½ tsp of thyme, finely chopped
- Maldon Sea Salt
- Grated Parmesan
For the Roasted Cauliflower Florets
- 12 small Cauliflower florets
- 50g Butter
- Salt and Pepper
Method
Steam the cauliflower until tender, blend and chill. Then add mascarpone, lemon juice, lemon zest, yolks, parmesan and seasoning. Set aside.
Now make the pasta. Place the “00” flour in a small bowl. Make a well in the middle, then place an egg in the middle of the well. Add a pinch of salt to the mixture. Using a fork stir the egg and gradually bring in the flour a little at a time until you form a messy dough. Use your hands to press the dough together and knead on a clean surface for a couple of minutes until smooth and firm. Add a little water if too dry, or extra flour if too wet.
If using a small domestic pasta machine, cut the dough into three equal sized balls.
Using a pasta machine make sure the thickness setting is on highest which should be No.10 on most machines. Roll your dough through this setting, turn by 90deg and then fold the dough in half. Pass it through again, then fold in half, again turn by 90deg and follow this procedure a few times until very smooth. Now roll the dough through each setting twice until you get down to No 1. Your pasta should be very thin now.
You can now cut your pasta into discs using a pastry ring. Place a little Cauliflower filling in the middle of each ring and brush around the perimeter with a little water and fold in half forming a half-moon shape. Press down around the seal to push out any air bubbles. Turn the half-moon so the flattest side is facing you, press the curved side down on the work surface away from you to form a crease and tap the middle of the topside. Fold the top right corner round to the top of the left corner and bind together with a little water. Repeat the process.
For the tuile grate the parmesan onto a tray covered in baking parchment and bake at 180C for 7 minutes. Allow to cool and then break into tuile shavings.
For the pesto, fry the garlic in the sunflower oil (enough to eventually cover the cauliflower), remove when golden, and then add the cauliflower florets, again removing when golden and set both aside. Crush the garlic in a mortar until you have a fine powder and add thyme; set aside. Now lightly pulse the cauliflower in a blender, place in a bowel and mix together with the garlic/thyme, olive oil, salt and parmesan until you get the desired consistency.
Lastly, roast the cauliflower florets, with seasoning, in the butter until al dente, but golden brown in colour.
To plate up, you’ll need to blanch the tortellini in warm water for a few minutes, drain and then garnish with the parmesan tuile, cauliflower florets, pesto and a little olive oil.
DANGER! If you cook in boiling water the tortellini will split so make sure the water is no hotter then a gentle simmer.
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