AGNOLOTTI with CHICKEN Serves 4 to 6. By Dennis W. Viau; modified from a restaurant recipe. Agnolotti are similar to ravioli, but a ravioli form is not necessary. You shape the pasta pieces by hand. It is difficult to give exact measurements for this recipe because the idea of agnlotti comes from the Italian word svotafrigo, which literally means refrigerator emptier. You prepare the filling using leftovers you have in the refrigerator and then wrap it in pasta dough. The recipe proportions below are those I used for making this stuffed pasta. Ingredients: For the Pasta Dough (you will need a pasta machine): 2 whole eggs ½ cup (80g) pasta flour ½ cup (70g) all purpose flour ½ teaspoon salt. 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil More flour as needed to make a workable dough not too soft, not too stiff For the Filling: 6 ounces (170g) chicken meat; light, dark, or mixed; minced ¼ cup (20g) grated Parmesan or Romano cheese ¼ cup (30g) mozzarella cheese, finely diced 1 whole egg 2 tablespoons heavy cream Optional: Pinch of ground rosemary, oregano and/or sage Salt and pepper to taste As needed: Bread crumbs (or panko) For the Sauce: Any marinara, or make your own with: 2 pounds (~900g) whole Roma tomatoes, peeled and seeded, then diced (fresh or canned) 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil ½ medium onion, diced 2 cloves garlic 3 fresh sage leaves, minced 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil For the Agnolotti: The pasta dough and filling from above Egg white and about a teaspoon of water to make an egg wash Directions: Start by preparing the pasta dough. Combine the eggs with about half the two types of flour, salt, and olive oil. Mix to form a wet paste. Add more flour, a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture becomes a workable dough that is neither sticky nor too dry and hard. Knead until smooth. Wrap in plastic and set aside to rest for at least an hour. It can be made a day in advance and refrigerated. To prepare the filling, combine all the ingredients except the bread crumbs. Mix well. Add bread crumbs, a little at a time, and work into the mixture until it begins to appear dry and starts to hold a shape. Set aside. 1 20151125
2 The crumbs will continue to absorb moisture and the mixture will stiffen; so don t overdo it with the crumbs. For the sauce, start by cutting a X through the skin on the bottom of each tomato. Heat a large pan of water to boiling. Pierce each tomato with a fork at the stem end and hold under the boiling water for about 30 seconds. Set aside to cool. Peel the tomatoes, starting at the X, and discard the skin. Cut each tomato in half through the middle and squeeze out the seeds. You can squeeze the seeds into a strainer over a bowl to capture the juice, pushing it through with a spatula. Discard the seeds. Dice the tomatoes fairly small. Combine the tomatoes with the remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often. Cook as long as you prefer. For my agnolotti I chose to cook the sauce only 15 to 20 minutes because I wanted a fresh flavor. An easy way to prepare this sauce is to put the tomatoes, along with the juice, in a food processor with the minced garlic and basil leaves. Pulse to reduce to a medium-fine chunky texture. Then cook as desired. To prepare the agnolotti, roll the dough through your pasta machine to form sheets that are about 6 inches (15cm) wide, adjusting the rollers each time until you produce a thin sheet. On my pasta machine, an Atlas 150, the number dial goes from 1 to 7. I start at #1 and roll to either #5 or #6. (You might need to divide the dough into two or three portions to keep the size manageable.) Place the sheet on a flat surface. Arrange small portions of filling in two rows along the pasta, leaving space between them and placing them slightly more toward the center than the edges. Combine the egg white and water to make an egg wash. Using a pastry brush, coat the pasta dough with a thin layer of egg wash, then fold over the long sides to enclose the filling, pressing the dough together between the pockets of filling and along the center. Try to force out the air as you press the dough. Trim with a knife or pastry cutter. (See the pictures that follow.) Heat water to boiling in a large saucepan. Cook the agnolotti 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain, plate, and garnish with tomato sauce for serving. 1 STEP-BY-STEP To easily peel the fresh tomatoes, start by cutting a shallow X through the skin at the bottom (opposite the stem end).
2 3 Pierce the tomato at the stem end with a fork and hold it below the surface of boiling water for 15 to 30 seconds. This will loosen the skin, making the tomatoes easy to peel. 3 Remove and discard the skin. Then cut each tomato in half and squeeze out the seeds with their juice, placing it in a strainer over a bowl. Continue until all the tomatoes are seeded.
4 4 Using a spatula, push the juice (which has a lot of flavor) through strainer, capturing it in the bowl. Discard the seeds. 5 Place the tomatoes with their juice in a food processor. Add the basil leaves. Mince the garlic, or crush it through a garlic press, and add it to the tomatoes along with the minced onion. Pulse to reduce the tomatoes to a slightly chunky texture. The longer you process it, the smoother the final sauce will be. For this recipe I preferred a fresh-flavored tomato sauce. I therefore cooked the sauce less than 30 minutes. You can cook it longer if you prefer.
6 5 Combine all the filling ingredients, except the bread crumbs, and mix well. If the mixture seems too wet, add bread crumbs a tablespoon at a time and mix well. The final mixture should be slightly dry without being stiff. 7 Roll the pasta dough (prepared in advance) through a pasta machine, adjusting the rollers each time, until the dough is rolled into a thin sheet. On my pasta machine an Atlas model 150 the adjusting dial has numbers from 1 to 7, 7 being the thinnest. I roll my dough to either #5 or #6.
8 6 A device I often use when making ravioli or agnolotti is a pizza dough roller (available on Amazon). The pasta machine rolls dough to a maximum width of about 6 inches (about 15cm). To widen the dough a little more, if I think it needs it, I use the pizza dough roller, rolling across the dough (not along it) from side to side to add a little more width. 9 Place little nuggets of the filling, making them as large or small as you want (there is no traditional size when making agnolotti; it varies by region in Italy), arranging them in a line toward the center and leaving room in between. Prepare an egg wash with the white from one egg, adding a teaspoon or two of water, and mixing well. Using a pastry brush, coat the pasta dough lightly along one edge and between the pieces of filling with the egg wash.
10 7 Fold the dough over, enclosing the filling. As you press it into place to seal it, try to push out most of the air. Press well to seal the dough together. 11 Using a knife or fluted cutter, trim the agnolotti. If you make small agnolotti, you can make two rows of them on a single sheet of pasta dough.
12 8 Here is one of the finished agnolotti. As you can see, it is folded along one edge and trimmed along the other three sides. This is traditional agnolotti. According to my Encyclopedia of Pasta, this shape of stuffed pasta originated in the Piedmont region of Italy and is now commonly made throughout the country. Size varies by region. 13 Because this pasta uses fresh dough, it cooks in boiling water in 1 to 2 minutes. Drain well and plate. Top with some of the fresh made sauce. Garnish with basil chiffonade, if you prefer. Conclusion This stuffed pasta is fun to make and it doesn t require the use of a pasta form. The shape is expected to be a little irregular. Think of it as a common type of stuffed pasta made to use up leftovers in the refrigerator.