Pasta Time

It is my last supper here in Sewickley (boo) and, keeping to tradition, I'm going to try to make it a risky meal. Pear pasta anyone?

I had this dish in Florence at Trattoria 4 Leoni (Alyssa you may consider this your second shout-out), and I recently discovered the recipe online. In Italian. Wish me luck. Drea will be coming over later to make it with me...cottage pie leftovers are on standby.

THE RECIPE
Shells:
Ok so go ahead and make your own pasta if you want, but I found these pre-made wonton papers that I am going to try.

Otherwise, it's
400g semola
100g flour
3 eggs
a pinch of salt
and a "spoon" of extra virgin oil

Beat the eggs, add the flour, oil and salt "formed in a fountain"...??? (You see why I am using wontons). Let the dough rest, then draw it out, and cut discs about 10cm wide. Or something.

Filling:
200g ricotta
100g mascarpone
1 pear
A mysterious amount of parmigiano reggiano
salt and pepper

Peel the pear and cut it into small cubes to add to the cheeses, salt, and pepper. Place a teaspoon of filling into the middle of each disc/wonton/whatever and "close the flake as if it were a caramel" - this translation is insane, oh noes. We did it kind of like an envelope.

Sauce:
200g asparagus tips
100g cream
50g grated parmigiano
30g butter
1tbsp of flour
salt
"di foglioline di maggiorana" o "aneto" to add in the end. No idea what that means. Dill?

For the sauce, melt the butter in a frying pan and add the flour and cream. As soon as it starts to simmer, add the cheese (okay so at this point they also mention that they're using taleggio, a type of cheese not mentioned until now, which I have just omitted...) and salt, etc. Take the chopped asparagus tips, boil them for about 3 minutes, and add them to the mix.

Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water until they float to the top. Combine with the prepared sauce. And hopefully this is worth the effort.

This will serve "four peoples".

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THE VERDICT
Yay! I think everyone liked it? A lot? And the wontons worked great! We ended up doubling the recipe and feeding my parents and their friends. I did find a kitchen scale in the end to do the measurements, but next time I make it, I'll convert to a definitive volumetric scale rather than weights for all you Americans.

Also, Mom says to make it saucier.