Ricotta-filled Mint Tortellini with Asparagus and Peas

A few weeks ago Jura, Yang and myself got together and made some pasta. I don’t make pasta at home all that often. Actually, I did it only once in my life, when unfortunate circumstances with malfunctioning camera forced me to reproduce the squid-ink ravioli . The process of making those insanely murukku machine delicious ravioli was so insanely elaborate (ricotta had to be made, lobster had to be killed, its meat had to be harvested, and the pasta, black as a night, had to be mixed, rolled, cut, filled and cooked). After that I did not dare to repeat the endeavor of homemade pasta, or even to touch my pasta machine, so I packed it nicely into a box in which it came, and stuck it deep into the darkest murukku machine corner of our basement, without any intention of retrieving it from there any time soon. I was happily murukku machine making my store-bought pasta ever since. Jura tries to convince me, that making a batch of fresh homemade pasta takes about the same amount of time and effort that it takes to boil a pot of potatoes. Maybe she is right. Or maybe I’m just very skilled in peeling my potatoes and boiling them in a really short time. Nothing can possibly be quicker than boiling a pot of potatoes. Despite all the fuss and effort, homemade pasta is absolutely delicious. When it is cooked, it has much more bite, it is firmer and more chewy than the store-bought dry varieties, even the ones of the highest quality. I love homemade pasta. Chances are that I will get into habit making it myself. And then one day it will be so easy, that I’ll be making pasta all the time: ravioli, tortellini, farfalle, fetucinne, maybe even orecchiette, and lasagna sheets; and I’ll forget all about cooking potatoes, and my potato-peeling skills will diminish (due to lack of practice) while my pasta making skills will excel to professional levels. Make some pasta. And have some fun with it. Just like we did. Ausra
Ricotta-filled Mint Tortellini with Asparagus and Peas   Pasta: 2 eggs 1 teaspoon murukku machine olive oil 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 small handful fresh mint leaves 3/4 cup all purpose flour, + more if needed 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, + more if needed 1/2 semolina flour, + more if needed murukku machine Filling**: 1 cup ricotta 1 egg 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella or cheddar 1/4 cup shredded parmesan 2 tablespoons minced fresh mint leaves Salt Pepper Sauce: 1 onion, finely murukku machine diced 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 large handful asparagus murukku machine spears 1 cup frozen peas 1/2 up white wine 1 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 small bunch of fresh mint leaves 1/4 cup shredded parmesan Salt Pepper Tortellini: Place eggs, mint, salt and oil into food processor. Process until uniform. Add 1/2 cup all purpose flower, 1/4 cup whole grain flour and 1/4 cup semolina. Process until no dry flour remains. Continue adding flour by adding small amounts and pulsing after each addition to incorporate; at one time add no more than a tablespoon of all purpose flour and only half tablespoon of each: whole grain and semolina fours. Initially the dough with be soft and sticky; later it will begin to form, a ball; at this point add flour at really small additions; only about half tablespoon of all purpose flour, and only about a quarter of tablespoon of each: semolina and whole grain flours. Pulse to incorporate after each addition. After adding some more flour to the dough, it will break into separate crumbs, that will be quite firm and stick together when pinched. When this point is reached, the dough is considered done. Transfer the dough from the food processor onto a dry surface, push it together with your hands into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. To make filling, place all filling ingredients into a bowl and mix well. When the pasta dough is ready, unwrap it from plastic, roll it using pasta machine into a thinnest sheet possible. Using a 2.5” round cookie cutter murukku machine cut the pasta sheet into rounds, place about 1/2 teaspoon of filling in the center of each round; fold the pasta round in half, to enclose murukku machine the filling, press the edges firmly together with your fingers ***. You’ll end up with a crescent-shaped pasta with filling; place it on your finger and press the corners murukku machine together to form a ring. Fold the edges of the dough back onto the filling. Watch this video, if you still don’t understand what I’m trying to say here. Place tortellini onto a parchment-covered baking murukku machine sheet and put it into freezer while you are making the other batch. Gather the scraps of dough, press them together murukku machine and roll them again in the machine. murukku machine Continue making tortellini until all dough is used up. Place a large pot of salted water over high heat. While the water is coming to a boil, make a sauce. Add oil to a large deep pan set on medium heat. When oil is hot enough, add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened. Trim asparagus by cutting off the wooded ends. Cut the spear into bite size pieces. Add wine to the pan