Thursday, February 22, 2007

Butternut squash & potato tortelli

I'm so happy to see many of you, Asian and non-Asian, celebrated the Chinese New Year on your blogs :) :) But on the new year day I had a hang-over and felt so sick. Couldn't afford on ginseng (folk remedy), I kept drinking ginger tea for a whole day, and even made myself a ginger pudding, planning to post it and show you guys how drunk I had been! But now I just want the whole episode totally over, no more booze, only goodie-goodie girl (well, let see how long I can last); allow me to start over again with this simple and rustic pasta.

I'm attracted to two different filled pasta dishes, potato and butternut squash respectively. They're both prepared in a very similar way, and both scented by the tantalizing nutmeg flavor. Since I like the color of butternut squash, and adore the texture of potato, so I combined the two. For me cooking has no rocket science, all come down to my taste and my mood... oh yeah, on that day I made the tortelli I was a bit playful; changed the pasta to a triangle shape.

Ingredients (adapted from In Nonna's Kitchen) (yield: 2 servings as main course)
  • Half of the basic egg pasta
  • 1 medium-small potato and same amount of butter squash, cooked*, peeled, mashed
  • 1 Tbp butter
  • a pinche of ground nutmeg
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 1/2 Tbps grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • For topping: spoonfuls of butter, 2 tomatoes, diced, more Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • * saute the butternut squash over very low heat, no water added. The filling has to be thick, wet filling will ruin the pasta

Direction:
  • Roll out the pasta sheets and stop at the second-last setting. In this recipe I call for two sheets. Cover them and even keep in fridge while preparing the filling.
  • Well combine potato, butternut squash, nutmeg, salt and cheese.
  • Slightly flour the work table, lay a pasta sheet down, cut out circles with a 21/2-inch cookie cutter. Brush a little water around the circumference of a circle and set a teaspoon of filling, brush some water on the the circumference of the second circle, cover, press the edges together a fork. (note: always cover any pasta that you aren't working on)
  • Bring a large pot of water to boil (you proceeding the topping at the same time, next step), add some salt, cook the pasta 2 - 4 minutes.
  • Saute butter and tomato for 2 minutes. When the pasta's done, drain immediately, I like to toss them directly on the pan. Add cheese.

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25 comments:

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

Gattina, this is my idea of comfort food! Thanks for the recipe.

Anh said...

Gattina, this is surely very yummy. I love pasta and noodles, and your new creation must be soooo good!

Linda said...

i love squash! this looks so delightful! thanks for sharing. great photos too!

Edith said...

Getting a hangover over a great celebration is worth it. hehehehehe..... Any idea what else can replace squash? I don't know whether this is avail in Singapore.

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

That is lovely! Great photos.
I've been working on ravioli. I'm not ready yet.

Brilynn said...

It's so neatly done, mine are always raggedy! Come to my house and make me nice, pretty pasta please!

Anonymous said...

Happy (belated) Chinese New Year!

Anonymous said...

What great flavors! Looks so very, very good! Well worth the efforts!

Katerina said...

I really like them in triangles - makes them extremely photogenic!@

Meeta K. Wolff said...

Gattina, I too wish you a happy belated Chinese New Year. The flavors of the pasta just sound too amazing. Another wonderful recipe!

Peabody said...

I love butternut squash anything. These look super comforting and delicous.

Unknown said...

Hey hey goodie-goodie gal ;p,

Once again, your pasta dish is making me hungry. Two thumbs up!

Anonymous said...

my dear Gattina, you are a very expert to do the past homemade, bravissima! Kesses and have a good week end ... in the kitchen :-)

Gattina Cheung said...

Lydia, thank you! Me too, any starchy food can comfort me :D

Anh, I'm a noodle moster too! My drool starts to run out...

Linda, I missed your delicious soup! I've seen one of your pumpkin soup, perfect to me as I still have one butternut squash to go :D

Edith, no no no :D :D I hate feeling sick. Try on pumpkin?
Your kitchen back to normal now?

Tanna, to be honest wtih you, filled pasta is little bit to much work for me. When yours ready, let me know :D

Brilynn darling, call me weird, I like to the raggedy rustic look! You should look at what I'm wearing, hehee.

Ivonne, thank you, I think it's New Year (our new year can celebrate up to 15 days), so don't worry, your greeting still on time :D

Chris, thank you! The right type of cheese is essential in this dish. Quite expensive though, but really worth every cent!

Katerina, probably because I'm not into poka-dot style, anything round (including my body *LOL*) got to alter.

Meeta, thank you so much your warm greeting and the compliment!

Sher, hehee... After I tried on your butternut sqash soup, I'm hooked on this veg! :D

Peabody, yeah?! My family here doesn't cook butternut squash nor pumpkin, my mom used to make something from pumpkin, to be honest, I didn't find it taste great that time. Only recently my taste changes, strange huh?!

Angie, you MIA? Catch you up via pm later *wink*

Francesca, right, Friday! My favorite day in a week! You have a great weekend too! *baci*

Patricia Scarpin said...

Gattina,

I loved the triangular pasta - it looks great! May I borrow this idea next time I make pasta at home? ;)

I'm glad you're feeling good already. Joao's sister is married to a Chinese guy and they celebrated a lot, too. :)

Ruth Daniels said...

What a wonderful dish. Thanks for sharing.

Lis said...

heheheee am sorry to hear about the hang-over but am happy to hear you obviously had a good time! Happy belated New Year! xoxox

The pasta looks sooooo good and I absolutely heart the shape you cut them into - so cute!

Mishmash ! said...

Gattina, I know I'm supposed to comment on ur food and the recipe but i cant stop myself from looking at ur table mat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!It looks sooo pretty and elegant.....I loved that colour!

Shn

Bong Mom said...

Hey Belated Happy New year Gattina
You have made the raviolis so beautifully

Anonymous said...

Great combination, Gattina - and beautiful pictures! I'm glad to hear that you made it through the hardest part of Chinese New Year!

Anonymous said...

Oh poor you! I am assuming you must be recovered by now! A nice dish to do so, for sure! I love it!

Anonymous said...

That looks delicious. You take beautiful pictures of your foods.

Helene said...

What a great recipe. Seems like the ultimate comfort food on a hangover day. Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

very attractive blog, love your pictures

Gattina Cheung said...

Patricia, the triangles gave me more bites on plain pasta, I don't mind since I like it :D
Oh yeah? I can imagine all different foods, languages, culture and fun (!) going on when all you guys gather togher!

Ruth, thanks! Just went shopping today, yes, some of them just for your event :D

Lis darling, thanks! I think I just felt bored; liked to change this or that...

Shn, Dollar Shop!!!!!! They have yellow, blue, green... and rubber backing! Oh mine, I sound like I running that shop :P

Sandeepa, I love any pasta, home-made or store-bought, they're all pretty in my eye :D
Thanks for your new year's greeting *hug*

Gilly, thank you! I really don't want to do it again, now come to think of it already made me dizzy :P

Bea, yes I did. I remember you're a big fan of squash/ pumpkin.

Cedar, thanks for dropping by! You have a beautiful blog, I'll "see" you there :D

Helene, thanks for the new year's greeting!

Anonymous, thank you for the compliment :D