Sorpresine with Sausage, Peas and Mushrooms

RECIPE

Serves 4 - preparation time 1 hour - cooking time about 20 min.

Egg dough:

• 180g 00 flour + 20g semolina wheat flour (or 200g all-purpose flour)

• 2 eggs

Sausage, Peas & Mushrooms Ragu:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1 large onion, finely diced

• 300g mixed mushrooms, sliced

• 3 Italian sausages, casings removed

• 1 large garlic clove, crushed

• ½ cup dry white wine

• 1 cup chicken stock

• 1+½ cup frozen peas

• Salt and black pepper, to taste

• 2 tablespoons flat-leave parsley, finely chopped

• 75g Parmigiano Reggiano

Tools needed:

Pasta machine, wooden board, a sharp knife or a pasta wheel cutter.

A large pot for boiling pasta and a pan to cook sauce

MAKING THE EGG DOUGH

Place the flour in a bowl. Make a well in the center and crack the eggs into it. Gently combine eggs with flour using a fork from the middle outwards. With your hands, gradually incorporate the flour from the outside of the well toward the center, kneading gently until the mass of dough comes together.

Put the dough on a wooden surface and knead it until it is smooth and resilient. You may need to add more flour, or you may not be able to incorporate all of the flour, depending on the humidity and the size of the eggs. If the dough is sticky or extremely pliable, knead more flour in.

Work the mass of dough with your hands to develop the gluten in the flour for about 10-15 minutes or until it is smooth and elastic. Using the heel of your hand, push the dough down and away from you, fold it in half back toward you, rotate a quarter turn and repeat the kneading motion.

Wrap it and place in the fridge to rest for at least half an hour before using.

While the dough is resting we can prepare the ingredients for the sauce. Finely dice the mushrooms, onion, peel and crush the garlic, chop parsley and grate Parmigiano Reggiano.

ROLLING THE DOUGH

After the resting time, dust the work surface with some extra flour, take a portion of dough the size of a large orange and press it out flat with your fingertips.

Set the pasta machine at its widest setting, (usually '0, but it depends on the machine you use).

Pass the dough through the rollers once. Fold the resulting strip into thirds.

Roll the pasta dough through the widest setting 5 times, till your dough has a rectangular shape and is smooth. Lightly dust the pasta with flour if it is at all sticky.

Narrow the setting of the pasta machine to position '1' and roll the dough through.

Continue passing the dough through the rollers, reducing the thickness by 1 setting each time until it reaches the desired thickness. (I use 7 out of 9 for sorpresine) It should now be very delicate and elastic to touch, and slightly translucent.

MAKING SORPRESINE

Place rolled dough onto a work surface dusted with flour, sprinkle with more flour to upper surface.

Using a chef’s knife or a pasta cutter cut the dough into 3½ centimeters strips, then turn the cutter 90 degrees and cut again to form squares.

Place one square in the palm of your hand. Press together the tips of two opposite corners to make a triangle with a hollow center. Pull the two remaining corners away from the sealed edge and press together to make a shape similar to tortellini.

Continue till the dough is finished.

MAKING THE SAUCE

In a large deep dish fry pan on a medium heat, bring the olive oil and a tablespoon of butter to heat. Once the butter has melted, add the onions and mushrooms. Suate’, stirring occasionally, until the water has been released from the mushrooms and cooked off.

Turn the heat to high and add the sausage meat to the fry pan. Break the meat up with the back of a wooden spoon and cook until the meat is in small pieces and everything has browned. Stir in the rest of butter and the garlic. Cook for about a minute or so.

Add the white wine to the pan and let it cook until most of the liquid has been evaporated.

Add the chicken stock and peas to the pan and cook with a lid on low heat for 3 minutes or till peas are soft. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper as necessary.

COOKING SORPRESINE

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook sorpresine until tender, about 4-5 minutes. Drain and reserve ½ cup of pasta water. Add the pasta, parsley and Parmigiano to the sauce and toss to combine. Add pasta water if more liquid is required.

Divide between bowls and serve immediately.

BUON APPETITO!

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Hope you enjoy this recipe! If you make it, please let me know your thoughts and tag me on my Fb page Pasta Journey or my Instagram _pastajourney_ .

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