Pasta is my all time favourite thing to make and eat and these little tortellini or cappelletti are really delicious. They are filled with ricotta, parmesan and mint and are served in a broth flavoured with leeks and garlic and fresh peas. I added the rind from a block of parmesan into the broth to give it extra flavour. The parmesan is an important part of the recipe so don’t skip it. if you are not feeling like making a broth then by all means use a shop bought one and enhance it with some leeks and parmesan. I just served a small ladle of broth in each bowl but if you want a lot of broth then double the recipe. This is enough for 2 hungry people or four that just want a small dish.

recipe

pasta dough

• 2 and a half cups white spelt flour
• 3 eggs (plus one beaten to add more liquid if needed)

Place the flour in a mound on the work surface and make a well in the centre. Add the three eggs and with a fork start mixing. If you find you need more liquid beat an egg in a dish and add a little at a time until it comes together. I have found that different brands of spelt flour are all a bit different when it comes to absorbing liquid so I would add three eggs to start with and see how it goes. Instead of adding salt in the dough I add it in the water. knead for 5 minutes until the dough Is smooth then cover and leave to rest for 25 minutes. Cut the dough in two and take one and flour it well and start rolling out with a pasta machine starting at the widest setting and working through until it is thin. then cut into squares and fill with a tsp of the filing and fold over so you have a triangle then fold the corners together.

filling

• 250g ricotta cheese
• 100g grated parmesan
• 3 tbsp. chopped mint
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice from half a lemon
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• salt (approx. 3/4 of a tsp)
• grated fresh nutmeg (optional) just a few scrapes on the grater

Mix all filling ingredients together in a bowl. once the pasta is filled with filling (see above) place on floured tray then boil a pan of water and add some salt and add the pasta and boil for 3 minutes until it floats to the surface. Add tortellini to broth.

broth

• 3 large leeks
• 5 spring onions
• rind from a block of parmesan
• bunch of chives
• 10 dried porcini mushrooms
• 10 pepper corns
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• small bulb of garlic
• 1 lt water plus 200ml

Chop the leeks and spring onions and place in a sauce pan with the dried mushrooms, chives and parmesan rind, add the water, peppercorns, salt, balsamic vinegar then cut the top 1/4 of the bub of garlic off and discard and place the bulb in the pan. boil for approx. 1 hour. taste and see if it needs more seasoning. mash the chunks a bit to release some of the flavours,

Pour through a sieve to remove the chunks and get left with a plain broth. As I poured it through the sieve I mashed it slightly with the back of a spoon. Pour back into pan and add some fresh peas and hald a leek and bring back to the boil. Add the boiled pasta, then serve with basil, grated parmesan and salt and pepper.