Tortellini di Pollo e Ricotta

(Unedited)

My sister has been perfecting this tortellini recipe for many years. It is best served with her beef broth, but you could also use a sauce with them such as pesto di basilico.

Filling

1/4 to 1/2 cup minced chicken meat (any leftover parts)

1 cup whole-milk ricotta (freshly made, otherwise Calabro brand, else Polly-O brand)

1 egg yolk

1/4 tsp grated lemon peel

1/4 tsp grated whole nutmeg

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Dough

2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (original recipe uses heaping cups)

4 beaten large eggs

4 tsp salt

1. Place dough ingredients into a bowl. Sprinkle a little bit of water. Mix and gather up dough into a ball. Add a little more flour if very sticky.

2. Knead the dough for 10 minutes. Let dough rest for 30 minutes covered. Knead dough and rest ½ hour 2 more times.

3. Mix filling thoroughly. This can be done during one of the previous 30-minute rest periods.

4. Cut off piece of dough. Roll it out on the widest setting, which is #1 on my Ampia brand pasta machine. Fold over ends to square them, and then send it through again. You can roll out a bunch of these at a time.

5. Send each piece through an intermediary setting then the final setting that should yield a thickness of about 1 mm (same as for ravioli or spaghetti dough). Be sure to flour the receiving area very well to prevent sticking after the tortellini is cut.

6. Using a floured glass with a 2-inch diameter edge cut out circles along the rolled-out dough. You’ll obviously need to zigzag to make maximum use of the dough.

7. Place 1/2 tsp filling in the middle of each cutout circle. You can use a small cake-decorating bag for this or do it using a small spoon.

8. Paint a thin layer of water onto each circle’s dough, particularly around the edges. This will help seal it.

9. For each circle, fold it over to make a half-moon (semicircle). Seal edge by pushing down with fingers all the way around.

10. Pick up ends of the half moon with the thumb and forefinger of each hand. Fold the endpoints back around until they meet with a little water in between them, then squeeze together to seal using thumb and forefinger of one hand.

11. Place tortellini onto a cookie sheet with wax paper. Do not stack the tortellini more than one high. Cover with aluminum foil and place in a freezer.

12. The next day, put the tortellini in large freezer bags.

13. The tortellini should be cooked in boiling water, not in the beef broth. Place cooked tortellini in individual serving bowls, then cover with beef broth and serve immediately.