Casunziei

Beetroot half-moons that bleed pink through the pasta, finished with poppy seeds.

Egg. Not vegetarian — contains ricotta whose rennet the source does not name.

Ingredients

Pasta

• 400 g plain flour and 4 eggs, worked to a dough and rested 30 minutes

Filling

• 400 g beetroot, roasted and peeled
• 150 g potato, boiled
• 60 g smoked ricotta, grated
• 1 egg yolk
• nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

To dress

• 100 g butter
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 40 g smoked ricotta, to serve

Method

1. ROAST THE BEETROOT, do not boil it. Boiled, it holds water and the filling turns to a wet pink slurry that soaks the pasta from the inside; roasted in foil for an hour at 190C it concentrates and stays firm.
2. Grate the beetroot and the boiled potato, and work in the smoked ricotta, yolk, nutmeg and salt. The potato is there to dry the filling further.
3. Chill it an hour.
4. Roll the pasta thin and cut 7 cm discs. Put a teaspoon of filling on each, fold to a half-moon and seal firmly.
5. Expect them to go pink through the pasta within minutes. That is the look of the dish and not a leak.
6. Boil 3 minutes in salted water.
7. Melt the butter until it foams and just begins to smell nutty. Toss the pasta through it, scatter the poppy seeds and grate smoked ricotta over.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes