THREE CHEESE PILLOWS WITH TOMATO SAUCE AND BASIL
Here is my second recipe for Pasta Pillows – Cheese Pillows with Tomato and Basil Sauce !!!
Looking at the photo my Basil is a bit messy, but it was a family dinner !!! Maybe you would do it a bit neater !!!
I used the pasta attachment to my kitchen aid, so you do need to have a pasta rolling machine for this recipe, either manual or attached to a mixer.
First to make the Pasta. I used the recipe out of Jamie Oliver’s Italian cookbook. However, I added some chopped Basil to the Pasta Dough to make a Basil Pasta.
- 600g Tipo 00 Flour
- 6 eggs
- Bunch of Basil leaves, finely chopped
- Semolina Flour for rolling out the Pasta Dough
Put the flour into a bowl, make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into it. Using a fork, beat the eggs till smooth. Add in the chopped Basil leaves. Mix together with the flour as much as possible. Flour each hand, and the worktop, and tip out the dough and knead. You want to end up with a nice smooth elastic dough.
Mine was a bit sticky so I added some more flour to the kneading process. Cover with cling film and leave to rest for 1/2 hour in the fridge before rolling and shaping it.
FILLING:
- 2 small Buffalo Mozzarella, drained well. I put mine in a sieve and let them sit for a little while to get out the excess moisture.
- 1/2 tub Ricotta
- 75g Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated
- 1 egg yolk
- Sea Salt and Ground Black Pepper to taste
Blitz all the ingredients together in a food processor. You will have a delicious creamy puree.
SAUCE:
- 2 tins Chopped Tomatoes
- 2 cloves of Garlic, crushed
- 1 Onion, finely diced
- Sea Salt, Sugar and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Heat some Olive Oil in a wide saucepan and add the Onion and Garlic. Saute until the Onion is soft but do not let it brown. Add the tins of Chopped Tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Add some Sea Salt and Ground Black Pepper to taste. As tinned tomatoes can be quite acidic and we are not adding other flavours to this sauce, I added 1/2 teaspoon of Sugar to the sauce to counteract the acidity. If I was adding other flavours to this sauce I would not add the Sugar! Let the Sauce simmer very gently for 45 minutes, by which stage it will be lovey and thick and full of flavour. Using either a blender or hand held blender, puree the sauce so it is nice and smooth.
Now for the tricky bit: Rolling out the Pasta and filling it with the Cheese mixture.
I used the pasta attachment on my Kitchen Aid. I took a piece of Pasta Dough and put it through the No 1 setting on machine. Then setting No 2, folding the Pasta over together and then putting it through again on No 2. Then No 3 and then No 4. (I tried No 5 but it made it too thin and difficult to handle).
Put some Semolina Flour on your bench and lay the sheet of Pasta down. I have a round pasta cutter which I lightly placed on half the sheet to mark out my shapes and then filled each shape with a small portion of the Cheese mixture.. I wet around each shape with some water and folded the other half of the pasta over and pressed down around the filling. Then I used my pasta cutter to press down and cut out the filled pasta shape. Place these on a tray covered with Semolina Flour and continue on with the rest of the pasta until you have enough for your meal. I served 6 per person.
I had Pasta Dough left over which I froze and used to make Tagliatelle later for another meal which worked perfectly!
To Cook the Pasta: Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and drop in your Pillows. Once they have floated to the surface, they are cooked. It only takes a few minutes. Drain and put into heated bowls. Cover with your Tomato Sauce and some fresh Basil Leaves.
Enjoy !!!
