my friend abi and I made this tortellini together one afternoon not long after we returned from Italy. we went to school together and hadn’t seen each other since until this year. she has trained as a chef since we last saw each other, so funny how similar we are. although she is a fitness freak and the only exercise I do is walking the dog lol. making pasta is probably one of my most favourite things to do because its so hands on. I love the process of the rolling, filling and folding this pasta was so fun. we decided to fill it with ricotta and sautéed mushrooms, parmesan and fresh oregano. I thought I would also share the billion photos from our trip to italy at the bottom of the post.

recipe

dough

• 300g tippo 00 flour
• 3 large eggs
• splash of olive oil

Place the flour on a board or in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into it. Beat the eggs with a fork until smooth. Using your fingers or a fork mix the eggs with the flour, incorporating a little at a time, until everything is combined. Knead the pieces of dough together  then work it for 5 minutes and cover and let rest

filling

• 250g ricotta
• 100g mushrooms (we used a selection of different mushrooms)
• splash of balsamic vinegar
• 50g grated parmesan
• leaves from one stem of oregano
• salt and pepper

chop the mushrooms then add into a food processor with the oregano and wiz up to finely chop them then add to a pan with 2 tbsp. olive oil, sautee for 1 minute and add a splash or balsamic vinegar once they have became soft and start to colour remove from the pan and let cool, mix the ricotta with the mushrooms, and parmesan and season well with salt and pepper. put mixture into a piping bag.

using a pasta machine roll out the dough, to do this start by cutting off 1/4 of it and covering the rest. flour the dough and roll through on its widest setting then fold and roll through again, I usually do this three times. then start turning the setting up so the dough gets thinner. I usually roll it through to number 7 on my machine I’m not sure if it will be different on other models. cut out circles and pipe on a tbsp. amount of filling brush a beaten egg around the edge and fold in half and press the dough together then bring the two edges into the middle and pinch together.

to cook boil for 3 to 4 minutes in water then drain. I served this in brown butter with toasted pine nuts and grated parmesan.

so in case you didn’t know I won a trip to Tuscany after entering a cooking competition, I won a weeks stay at a villa in chianti for four so my friend abi, me and my younger brother louis and his girlfriend Hannah all went together, we flew into pisa and hired a car and drove there. I was in awe the whole drive at just how beautiful the place was, I did not do it justice with my photos, everywhere I looked was like a postcard. the villa was in a stunning location in lecchi in chianti and the views where of vineyard and olives trees in every direction.

chianti

this was the view from the front door of the villa, we where so lucky with the weather every day was so hot.

siena

siena was about 30 minutes drive from where we where staying. I loved it there, it was such a beautiful city. we went on a sunday and there was a huge flower market going on where we parked the car. we then waled through the narrow streets to the square and had a panini in one of the cafes. if I had to pick my favourite city in Tuscany this was it.

I nearly lost an eye with these flags waving around. I had to do a matrix like move to dodge it lol.

we stumbled apon this beautiful cathedral it was so ornate

umbria

we drove to lake trasimeno on one of the days and it was really pretty, we had pizza at a restaurant right next to it, the water was so clear. on the way home we found some beautiful sites that I had to pull over to take a photo of

the toxic beach

this beach is in vada its also known as the white beach. there are some stories about the sand being so white and the sea so blue because an old soda factory that is right on the shore next to it had a leakage years ago, we checked and the water is safe according to my brother who googled the water quality. so don’t quote me that. its hard to see in the photos but it is so white and the sea is so blue it almost hurts your eyes to look at it. there are men selling bracelets and watches and one guy tied a fabric bracelet on to my ankle and its still on now I haven’t wanted to cut it off. we went to a local restaurant and had a weird pizza like sandwich it was like pizza dough ham and cheese and topped with more pizza dough I can remember what is was called.

Florence

on another of the days we drove to Florence. we where told about the food market “mercato central” it is a foodies dream for souvenirs, we bough flavoured salts, pasta, balsamic vinegars but they had porcini mushrooms, wine, cured meats it was amazing. we also walked to the bridge. I think its probably important to research before you go as abi paid 10 euros for a two scoop gelato!!! I had a kinder egg flavoured one that was very yummy though

 

rome

on another day we drove to rome, it was only 3 and a half hours away and we have always wanted to go. I’m so glad we decided to make the drive as it was amazing I cant wait to go back and spend longer there as we didn’t get to see everything. it was so warm on the day we went and I got so sunburnt but I had the best day. ever since I watched roman holiday with audrey Hepburn I wanted to go there. we paid a lot for gelato here too I think it was 6 euros but I had a kinder Bueno one here at it was amazing.

the trevi fountain, it is packed with tourists here but you cant come to rome and not see it.

 

 

we went inside the coliseum, it was only 12 euros so we went for it.

pisa

we flew home from pisa and we had some time to spare so we went to see the leaning tower and had lunch. I had ricotta ravioli topped with beef ragu it was so yummy. you don’t need a lot of time here but its worth a visit.

lucca

just a few miles from pisa we also drove to lucca. it was a lovely little place and I had the best gelato of the whole trip here. it was chocolate gianduja gelato and was incredible and it was only 2 euros the cheapest of the whole trip.

I cant believe how much we did in just seven days we really made the most of it. I have to say I loved it and want to visit again. if you haven’t been you must go.