Our pals at Rio Vista Olives sent us the incredible oil that we cook with in this post. Like everything that we recommend on our blog, we use and love their products, and hope that you will too!
The Story
This week we’ve got a quick little filled pasta for you. With a simple egg dough and a spreadable roasted pistachio filling, you can stamp these little anolini out in less time than it takes your caffettiera to boil.
A pasta like this can be paired with just about anything, but we dropped them into some bone broth stock that we had hanging around in the freezer, for a meal of subtle but complex flavour. Jump back a few months to find our bone broth recipe here!
The Pasta
We promised simplicity, so here it is. Mix up your flours and salt, form it into a well with the eggs and oil in the centre, and then use a fork to bring it together into a raggedy delicious mess. Knead for 10, rest for 30. Make sure that you keep it wrapped while it rests, and out of any direct sunlight or heat. If you decide to refrigerate it overnight, give it half an hour or so to come back to room temperature before you start rolling it out.
While your dough rests, soak the breadcrumbs and roasted pistachios in the milk and water for about 15 minutes, before blending to a paste with the spinach and light seasoning. Filling complete.
Quarter your ball of dough, and then roll each piece through your machine to a medium-thin thickness. Keep any dough that you’re not working on covered with plastic until you’re ready for it and give it a very light spritz of water if it begins to dry out.
Lay two of the sheets out on a lightly floured work surface and then use a spatula or the back of a spoon to spread the filling evenly over both. Lay the other two sheets on top and then smooth out pressing down lightly with your hands, removing any air bubbles as you go.
We used a largish upside-down piping tip to stamp these little guys out, but just about anything will work: a cookie cutter, thin shot glass, even an actual anolini stamp. Pressing down firmly and giving it a little twist will help it to seal and cut cleanly.
That’s it! Grab your favourite stock or soup, light sauce, or a glob of butter and get into it!
Buon appetito,
– Al & Al.
Equipment
- Air tight container for resting
- Food processor
- Pasta roller and cutter (if not using a rolling pin and knife)
Ingredients
Dough
- 100 g 00 flour
- 50 g semolina
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- Splash olive oil, extra virgin (we use Rio Vista Olives' Nothin' But Classic)
- Pinch of salt
Filling
- 30 g chopped baby spinach
- 30 g bread crumbs
- 30 g shelled toasted pistachios
- 20 ml water
- 10 ml milk
- Zest of half a lemon
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Mix the flours and salt together, and form a well. Add the egg, egg yolk, and oil into the well and combine using a fork.
- Knead the resulting ball of dough vigorously for 10 minutes, before transferring to an airtight container to rest for 30 minutes, away from heat or direct sunlight.
- While the dough rests, make the filling by soaking the breadcrumbs and pistachios in the milk and water for 10-15 minutes. Add spinach, lemon zest, and salt, and blitz to a thick paste.
- Cut the rested ball of dough into 4 even pieces, and then roll one at a time through the widest setting on the pasta machine a few times, folding the dough over itself in between passes.
- Gradually step through the thicknesses to a medium-thin setting of 6, and then lay the sheets flat on a lightly floured work surface.
- Use a spatula to evenly spread the filling over half of the pasta sheets, then lay the remaining pasta sheets on top and press down lightly to smooth out any air bubbles or creases.
- Use a small round cookie cutter or similar to stamp out the anolini (we used an upside-down large round piping tip). Try to cut each piece close to the previous, to minimise waste, and use a twisting motion after pressing down firmly to assist with sealing and cutting.
- Transfer to lightly floured baking paper lined trays and refrigerate uncovered. These anolini are best served immediately, or within 1-2 days. If you’re after a serving suggestion, try them with our pressure cooker bone broth!
