Beet and ricotta tortellini with blood orange tarragon butter and hazelnuts

Making pasta or tortellini in this case is what i do to relax. This week i needed to relax, not because I’m busy as I’m not unfortunately (i wish i was) i don’t know if its the January blues or the lack of any projects but I’m not feeling like doing any thing this week. I think its probably just a come down from all the Christmas excitement (and chocolate lol) and the terrible winter weather, its the darkness that annoys me as i shoot with natural light and there just doesn’t seem to be any at the moment. Any way i have a one to one workshop this week, so i went to get some ingredients and came across some beetroot and that’s how this recipe came about and thankfully there was just enough light to photograph it. I have been wanting to create another savoury blood orange recipe after i made a blood orange roast chicken last year, and this was the outcome. Orange butter for my pasta with tarragon and hazelnuts and loads of parmesan as i love parmesan. 

recipe

pasta dough

• 2 1/4 cups (350g) 00 flour
• 100g pureed beetroot
• 3 eggs
• pinch of salt

mix the eggs and beetroot puree together and then make a mound with the flour and make a hole in the centre and pour on half the wet mixture and salt and start mixing with a fork then add some more and mix until you have a manageable dough. knead for 5 minutes then cover and leave to rest for about 20 minutes.

for filling

• 300g ricotta
• 70g grated parmesan
• salt/pepper
• 1 yolk or 1 quails egg
• nutmeg

mix ricotta and parmesan together in a bowl and grate about 1/4 of a tsp of nutmeg and lots of black pepper and some salt and mix again and set aside, roll out dough with a pasta machine (I roll it through fold it and roll it through again two times before I start turning down the dial) until quite thin ( i usually go down to number 7) then cut into circles with a cookie cutter or squares using a pastry wheel (i thought the squares liked nicer)  and place a spoonfull of filling in the centre and fold in half, pinch the edges closed, then fold into tortellini, boil for 3 to 4 minutes while you make sauce

butter sauce

• 100g butter
• juice from half a blood orange
• leaves from 2 sprigs of tarragon
• splash of balsamic vinegar (optional)
• salt and pepper
• parmesan cheese
• handful of hazelnuts chopped

melt butter in a pan and add orange juce, tarragon and hazelnuts and a small splash of balsamic vinegar, simmer until bubbling then toss in the pasta an coat them with the butter and serve with lot of grated parmesan and salt and pepper.

suggestions

• don’t fancy orange then just brown the butter and serve them in that
• cant find blood oranges (the season is short) try a different orange variety or try lemon instead 
• don’t like tarragon? use sage instead add it to the pan with the butter to crisp up before adding the orange juice.
• find tortellini to fiddly make ravioli instead