Spinach tortellini filled with cheese

Are you up for making fresh pasta? Today I bring you a delicious and very fresh pasta recipe: spinach tortellini filled with cheese that smell like the countryside and taste heavenly. It's a truly delicious dish that I'm sure you'll make more than once.

You'll see that the recipe includes not only the cooking and the accompanying sauce for the tortellini, but also the making of the pasta dough and the filling. Although it may seem laborious, the result is well worth it because the flavor of homemade fresh pasta is unmatched compared to store-bought. But for those days when you have less time or don't feel like making fresh pasta, you can always prepare this dish with store-bought tortellini.

Here is the recipe for Spinach tortellini filled with cheese with all the steps. I'm sure you'll love the result.

Ingredients

For the green pasta dough

• 200 g spinach shoots
• 5 whole eggs
• 600 g medium-strength flour
• 1 pinch of salt

For the filling

• 80 g ricotta cheese
• 75 g Parmesan cheese
• 100 g goat cheese
• The zest of 3 lemons
• Grated nutmeg
• A few sage leaves, finely chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the brown butter herb sauce

• 250 g cold butter, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 handful fresh thyme
• 8 sage leaves cut into thin strips
• Grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Preparation

Prepare the green pasta dough

1. In a blender, add the spinach and the eggs, and blend until you obtain a liquid mixture.
2. Place the flour on the work surface forming a mound and sprinkle the salt over it.
3. In the center of the flour mound make a hole, forming a volcano, and add the egg and spinach mixture.
4. Using a fork, gradually incorporate the flour into the eggs, mixing from the outside in, until you have added all the flour and it begins to come together.
5. From that point, knead gently with the base of your palm until you have a well-formed dough. Shape the dough by stretching it slightly forward and folding it back onto itself. Repeat this motion continuously until the dough looks smooth and elastic (about 5 to 10 minutes).
6. When the dough is smooth, form a ball and place it in the refrigerator wrapped in plastic wrap.

Prepare the filling

1. Put all the ingredients in a food processor or chopper and blend until integrated and the resulting cream looks smooth. You can also simply combine everything and crumble it well with a fork.
2. Season to taste and refrigerate.

Shape and fill the tortellini dough

1. First you need to roll out the dough into thin sheets, but not too thin so they don't tear. You can do this with a pasta machine or with your KitchenAid and the Set of 3 pasta accessories.
2. If you do it with the food processor, lightly flour the dough, cut it into several portions and roll them out into sheets of the desired thickness.
3. If you do it with a pasta machine, flour the work surface and roll the dough through the machine several times, each time narrowing the setting, until it reaches the desired thickness.
4. Once you have the sheets, cover them with a slightly damp cloth to prevent them from drying out.
5. Place a sheet on the work surface and cut it into 4 cm x 4 cm squares, making sure they are approximately the same size. Use a pasta cutter or a sharp straight-edged knife. Cover the sheet with a slightly damp cloth and repeat the process with all the pasta sheets.
6. When all the pasta is cut, place half a teaspoon of filling in the center of each square.
7. Pick up a square with the filling and fold it diagonally to form a triangle. Press the edges down to seal the triangle and expel the air. To ensure a good seal, you can run a little water along the edge of the square before folding it.
8. Take the lower corners of the triangle and fold them around your index finger so they meet, as if forming a ring. Press the corners together well so they don't come apart, using a little water if necessary.
9. Place the tortellini on a tray sprinkled with semolina or flour.
10. Repeat the process until all the tortellini are formed. When placing them on the tray, make sure they do not touch each other, so they don't stick together.

Cook the tortellini

1. Fill a tall Shallow Casserole with water, add salt when it's hot and when the water boils, drop the tortellini in batches so they cook.
2. When they start to float, in about 3-4 minutes, they will be ready and you can take them out of the pot. Set them aside in a pre-greased dish so they don't stick.

Prepare the brown butter herb sauce

1. While the tortellini cook, melt the butter over medium heat in a low Shallow Casserole or in a high-sided skillet, until it's foamy, has a nice golden color, and you notice it smells like toasted nuts.
2. Add the garlic and herbs and let them cook for a few seconds.
3. Add a tablespoon of the tortellini cooking water and mix it well with the butter to emulsify and bind the sauce.
4. Add the hot pasta, turn off the heat and serve immediately with a bit of grated Parmesan on top. Enjoy!

Notes

• If you discover brown butter in this recipe, I'm sure you'll use it more often. If you want to see how to make it (without herbs) and how to use it in your recipes, we talk about it here.