cinco de mayo? lets make tortellini!

Mexican food on cinco de mayo is just so predicable.

I was in the mood to cook yesterday, and even more in the mood to make something delicious and fulfilling. Ever since I was gifted my  KitchenAid for Christmas I have been obsessed with making homemade pasta. I haven't made any in a while, and was dying to make homemade tortellini.  I've tested it out by making a few, and they turned out really yummy so I was really excited to try again, officially.

makes about 25 tortellini (definitely enough for 2!)

Filling
a cup of whole milk ricotta cheese (make sure you use whole milk--more on that in a future post.)
3 ounces of goat cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon of fresh parsley (half if you use dried.)
about 6 slices of prosciutto, sliced into small bite-sized pieces
salt, pepper and crushed red pepper to taste

Pasta dough
1 1/4 cups of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of white flour
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of water (may need more depending on the consistency of the dough)
a pinch of salt

Egg Wash
One egg, tablespoon of water, whisked

• For the filling, mix everything together in a bowl so all ingredients are well incorporated. taste as you go and adjust your seasonings as needed--careful with the salt as prosciutto is pretty salty on its own.

• Sift the flours and salt together, and mix in kitchenaid blender with the eggs and water.

• Mix with the flat beater for 30 seconds at level 2, then switch to the dough hook, mix for 2 and a half minutes at level 2.

• Depending on the consistency of the dough (it should be slightly sticky and definitely not falling apart) add more water, a teaspoon at a time.

• Once mixed and at a proper consistency, knead the dough by hand on a floured board for 1-2 minutes. I cut it into 4 separate pieces and flatten it so its thin enough to feed through the pasta roller.

• Follow instructions on the mixer to make the pasta (I went up to a level 4) and then cut out 3 inch rounds from the dough.

• Place about a 1/2 teaspoon of filling in the center of the round and brush the bottom half with the egg wash. Fold over and pinch the edges together and turn them into each other, forming a tortellini shape.

I just made a simple tomato cream sauce to go on top, but literally anything would work. Pesto, lemon and white wine, a simple lemon butter sauce, plain tomato, etc.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!