If you're a fan of Italian cuisine, you'll definitely want to try making cheese agnolotti. This classic dish features an unusual twist of beans and delicate pasta parcels filled with a savory cheese mixture and topped with a rich and flavorful sauce. Making cheese agnolotti from scratch is a labor of love, but the end result is well worth the effort. Here's a step-by-step guide to creating this delectable dish.
Recipe Ingredients
Basic Egg Pasta
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
2 tbsp warm water
3 cups flour
1 tsp of salt
Cheese filling
1/2 lb of ricotta
6 oz of kefir cheese
4 oz of petite basque
4 oz of manchego
3 oz of parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
8 oz of yellow wax beans blanched
8 oz of runner beans chopped and blanched
1/2 cup broccolini blanched
1 1/2 cup fresh coco beans
1/2 onion charred,
2 cloves of garlic
6 cups water,
1 bay leaf
1 tsp of salt
Finish
1 lemon juice
1/2 cup pasta water
5 tbsp of butter
1 olive oil
1 tbsp tarragon and chive flowers
1 pinch chili flakes
salt
Recipe Instructions
For the Beans,
Blanch the yellow wax beans in a pot of salted water for 3-4 minutes until tender all the way through. Strain out and shock in an ice bath. Repeat the same process with the italian runner beans.
In a separate pots place beans with all of its ingredients and place on top of the stove on medium high heat. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a light simmer and cover. Cook for 20-25 or so minutes and then add the salt. Cook another 35-40 minutes or until the beans are tender and cooked through. Set aside to cool.
How to make Cheese Filling for pasta,
Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and place into a plastic pastry bag.
How to make Agnolotti Pasta,
Place 2 cups of flour with semolina in a bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour. Add eggs, water, and salt. With a fork stir the egg mixture until it starts to form a ball of dough. Then use your hands to form the dough. Add more flour if the dough is wet. Knead the pasta for 5 minutes and then cover and raring
Take your pasta and cut in half. Leave one half covered while you work with the other half. Take the half of the pasta with a rolling pin and roll until the dough is thin enough to fit inside the biggest setting on your pasta machine ( I use the kitchenaid attachment). Then run the pasta all the way down to the lowest setting twice. Dusting the dough with flour if it is too wet. Then on the third time run it down to the second to last setting. Again, Use a little flour for dusting. You should have long sheets at this point. Using your pastry bag pipe the cheese mixture along the bottom of the pasta leaving about a 1/2 inch from the edge. Run it along the whole length of the pasta sheet leaving about an inch or two at the ends (one long tube of filling). Then take a pastry brush or spray bottle of water and brush the top portion of the pasta sheet. Take the bottom part pasta closest to the filling and roll over to the brushed top portion. You should now have a long tube like pasta running all the way down the length of the pasta. Now, at every 1/2 inch use your index fingers and press down with with each index finger to create a little "ravioli" Continue the same thing all the way down the pasta sheet. Then using a pinwheel cutter cut away the excess pasta at the top. Then cut in between each press that you make with your fingers to create each agnolotti. Place on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and extra semolina flour to help prevent sticking. Set aside while you aside while you repeat the same process with the other half of the pasta ball.
How to cook agnolotti,
Place your pasta in salted boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes until they float to the top. Strain off and place the pasta in the saute with a little (1/2 cup) of the cooking water to the pan along with the butter to make a pan sauce. Season the whole pan with salt and pepper. Add beans, broccolini and cook for 1 minute. Season everything, then place 5 or so agnolotti on the plate with some of the butter sauce. Add some tarragon leaves to the pasta. Garnish with parmesan cheese and chive flowers, and chili flakes. Serve and enjoy!
