
A Winter Snow Day OOTD
January 25, 2021
One of my most favorite therapeutic meals to cook in the kitchen is homemade pasta, and today I’m cooking up my favorite homemade butternut squash tortellini!
I can tell that a lot of people think I’m kind of nuts for spending the time making homemade pasta sometimes. I love to make homemade noodles like fettucini and lasagna noodles, but I especially love the methodical process of making ravioli. There is something so therapeutic about making the dough from scratch, rolling it out, and repeating the same steps to fill each ravioli. It’s not for everyone, but I find it very calming – it allows my brain to totally turn off and focus on what I’m doing in the moment.
And so today, I thought I’d try my hand at tortellini instead! I don’t know which I prefer to make now, because these are just so cute and dainty and fun to make! I decided to make a butternut squash tortellini and because I’m still wanting summer to stick around instead of turning into fall, I paired it with a bright and fresh arugula pesto. We can pretend, right?
Related Post: Lobster Ravioli with Beurre Blanc
So without any further ado, let’s jump into the step-by-step on how to make a tortellini!
Making homemade pasta became that much easier with the introduction of the pasta roller attachment from KitchenAid. By all means, crank away at a hand pasta roller like this one if you prefer, but I decided that sweating profusely and cooking don’t go hand-in-hand in my kitchen 😀 I like to roll my pasta out to the number 5 thickness on the KitchenAid attachment. Then I lightly flour my cutting board, place the sheets on it, and use a biscuit cutter to cut out 3″ round circles (I use this one – I love having a set of different sizes because I also use these to make my ravioli!).
I highly recommend using not more than half a teaspoon of filling when you’re making tortellini. When I’m making ravioli I will typically use more, even up to a tablespoon of filling, depending on the size of the ravioli. I like that “stuffed” ravioli look and flavor! But tortellini are different: if you overfill they become very difficult and near-impossible to fold. Stick to half a teaspoon max with this 3″ size circle and you’ll be good!
Dab a bit of water on your finger and run it along the outer edge of half of the dough circle. Fold the other half over onto the first half, into a half-moon shape as seen above.
Seal the ends well!
Now you’ll wrap the back edge of the folded tortellini around the tip of one of your fingers and press firmly to seal the ends together. Transfer to a flour-lined baking sheet and repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
If you’re having trouble visualizing, I learned from this fantastic video by Laura in the Kitchen!
Yummy homemade butternut squash tortellini are paired with a fresh and creamy arugula and walnut pesto.
Tortellini can be frozen individually on baking sheets for about 1-2 hours, then remove and place in a plastic container or plastic freezer bag and return to freezer. I usually keep mine for up to 1-2 months (although they typically get eaten before that!).
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Hello and welcome to The Charming Detroiter! I'm Sarah, a suburban wife, expectant mother, and physician from Metro Detroit who loves cooking, fashion, travel and home decor! Most of all, I love organizing it all, and I'm glad you're here so that I can help you too! To learn more, click here!
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