Get Premium access to all the latest content online
Subscribe and view full print editions online... Subscribe
Velia’s cappelletti in stock
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 3 litres meat stock (see recipe, below)
- 400g ‘00’ flour
- 4 eggs
- 200g turkey breast
- 200g lean pork loin steak
- 150g beef (or veal) steak
- 1tbsp butter
- 1 thick slice mortadella
- 1 fresh Italian sausage, skin removed, meat crumbled
- 1 egg, beaten
- 100g Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
- 1⁄2tsp freshly grated nutmeg grated Parmigiano Reggiano, to serve
For the meat stock
- around 1.5kg selection from chicken leg and wings, beef rib, beef neck, a piece of steak, like a skirt and/or pork shoulder
- 1 onion, quartered
- 2 celery sticks
- 1 carrot
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 peppercorns
- some fresh tomatoes if it’s summer, for colour
- 1 heaped tsp salt
Method
Cut the turkey, pork and beef (or
veal) into smallish chunks. Heat a large frying pan and melt the
butter. Once it is sizzling, add all
the meat, except the mortadella,
and sauté until cooked, adding
a little water (or wine) to stop it from
burning. Leave the meat to cool.
Once cool, mince all the meats (using a mincing attachment on a food processor or stand mixer), along with the mortadella, so the mixture is finely ground but not a paste. Then squish in the egg, Parmigiano Reggiano and nutmeg. The filling will be stiff. Taste the mixture and adjust for salt – don’t under-season or it will be bland.
To make the pasta dough, follow the egg pasta dough recipe here. Roll out the dough until it is thin enough that you could see a tablecloth pattern beneath it. Use a pastry cutter and a ruler to cut a grid of 3cm squares. Keep the sfoglia (thin layer) covered if it’s a hot day to stop it from drying out while you make the cappelletti.
Pop a pea-sized piece of filling into the centre of each square. Fold the pasta over to make a triangle and press the edges firmly together. Hold one of the smaller corners between your finger and thumb and bring the other small corner down so that the two corners meet. These two corners should be pointing away from the top corner. Squeeze the points together – it looks a bit like bringing a scarf under someone’s chin – and you have your first cappelletto. Repeat until you have used up all the dough.
Warm some soup bowls and bring your stock to a simmer in a large saucepan. Simmer the cappelletti for 5 minutes – taste a couple to check for doneness. Serve, steaming hot, with a generous sprinkling of Parmigiano Reggiano melting into the liquid.
Meat stock
MAKES 4 LITRES
Add all the ingredients to a large pan which will hold around 4 litres of water. Cover with enough water that it reaches 5cm or so below the rim of the pot. Cover with the lid and bring it to a very gentle simmer. Let the stock burble quietly for a good 90 minutes, skimming off any scum which forms on the surface. Turn off the heat and let the meat cool in the stock. You can use the meat in ravioli fillings, or cover it in a salsa verde to make it interesting, the way Italians do.
Strain the stock of its solids and once it is room temperature, chill overnight. Next day, skim off the fat which will have formed on the surface. You can now use the stock or freeze it for later use.
Advertisement