Pansotti Pasta with Walnut Sauce Recipe from Liguria
User Reviews
5
52 reviews
Excellent
-
Prep Time
1 hr
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Cook Time
15 mins
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Servings
6
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Calories
746 kcal
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Course
Main Course
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Cuisine
Mediterranean, Italian
Pansotti Pasta with Walnut Sauce Recipe from Liguria
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Pansotti pasta are filled with a finely chopped blend of cooked Swiss chard, spinach, radicchio, ricotta cheese, egg, and Parmesan, seasoned with marjoram and nutmeg. The dough is made with flour, eggs, wine, water, and salt, kneaded to a smooth elastic texture. The stuffed pasta is served with a creamy, textured walnut sauce incorporating walnuts, pine nuts, garlic, country bread soaked in milk, Parmesan cheese, and marjoram.
Description
The filling brings together cooked and drained leafy greens with ricotta, egg, Parmesan, and fresh herbs, creating a flavorful and moist mixture enriched by a hint of nutmeg. The pasta dough includes traditional ingredients of flour, eggs, white wine, and water, kneaded thoroughly to form an elastic dough suitable for rolling and shaping.
The walnut sauce is prepared by blending walnuts, pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan, and softened country bread with milk and olive oil, seasoned with fresh marjoram, salt, and pepper to produce a rich, slightly coarse sauce that complements the delicate filled pasta.
Pansotti are typically served freshly made with the walnut sauce spooned over the top, offering an herbaceous and nutty accompaniment that highlights the tender pasta and savory filling.
This recipe yields about six generous servings, and the filled pasta freezes well if arranged on a tray before transferring to a sealed bag, enabling cooking from frozen without defrosting.
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Ingredients
For pasta dough
- 500 g Italian '00' flour or all-purpose flour, 1.1lbs
- 2 egg
- ½ erving white wine 2.5floz
- ½ glass water add gradually. you may need slightly less or more, lukewarm, 4 floz
- 1 pinch salt
For filling
- 300 g swiss chard Stems removed, fresh, 10.5oz
- 200 g spinach 7oz
- 200 g radicchio or borage, aka wild chicory, 7oz
- 200 g ricotta cheese fresh, 7oz
- 1 egg
- 40 g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese or vegetarian parmesan, 1.5oz
- 2 prigs marjoram fresh
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste, freshly ground
- 1 pinch nutmeg freshly grated
For walnut sauce
- 200 g walnuts shelled, 7oz
- 1 tablespoon pine nuts
- 40 g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese or vegetarian parmesan, 1.5oz
- 1 garlic clove
- 200 ml milk fresh, 1 cup
- 2 lices country bread
- extra virgin olive oil as required
- 1 teaspoon marjoram fresh leaves
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste, freshly ground
Instructions
Make the filling
- Clean the greens and cook them in slightly salty water for 5-10 minutes until tender. Then drain, allow to cool and then squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Chop the greens finely and put them into a bowl, add the egg, the ricotta, the Parmigiano cheese and the marjoram and add pinch of nutmeg. Mix everything together well. Add salt and pepper as required.
Make the pasta dough
- Sift the flour into a bowl or onto a wooden pastry board. Make a well in the middle and crack the eggs into it. Beat them slightly with a fork, add the white wine, the water and a pinch of salt. Start mixing the liquids into the flour with a fork and then your hands.
- When the dough starts ‘sticking together’ turn it out onto a pastry board (if starting in a bowl) and start kneading it by pressing and stretching it with the lower part of your palm, then roll it up and knead again. Continue until the dough is quite smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes).
- If the dough seems too dry and flaky add a small quantity of water. You can check if it's elastic enough by pushing a finger into the dough. If it returns to its previous shape and the hole almost disappears, it’s ready.
- Roll your dough into a ball and let it rest wrapped in plastic wrap or under a humid tea cloth for 30 minutes.
Make the walnut sauce
- Put the shelled walnuts into a pan, cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Drain and rinse the walnuts, remove the skins by wiping with a cloth and pat the walnuts dry with kitchen paper or a clean tea towel (this step is optional).
- Break the bread into pieces, put it in a bowl and cover with the milk. When it is completely wet, drain and squeeze the milk out with your hands.
- Put the drained bread in the blender along with the walnuts and the garlic. Pulse a few times until the walnuts are quite small. Add the parmigiano cheese, pine nuts and 2 pinches of salt. Pulse for about 20 seconds until the sauce becomes a bit smooth.
- Continue to pulse while adding olive oil a little at a time and the remaining milk from the bread or water as needed to obtain a thick creamy sauce.
Make the pansotti
- Cut off about quarter of the dough. Leave the rest under a humid cloth or wrapped in plastic wrap (if the dough dries it will become more difficult to roll out and shape).
- Roll the dough into a thin sheet by hand or with the help of a pasta machine and cut it into squares of 5-7 cm (2-3”). Put a heaped teaspoon of filling in the centre of each square. Wet the sides of the square with some water with the help of a brush and fold the dough over the filling into a triangle.
- Press along the edges in order to seal the filling inside the pasta. Join the outer corners of the triangle together and press with your fingers to seal them. Lay the ready pansotti on a surface dusted with flour and sprinkle with a little more flour. I like to use semolina flour for dusting.
Finish and serve
- Put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Add salt and bring to the boil again. Cook the pansotti for 8-10 minutes. Test taste before draining
- Before draining the pasta, dilute the Ligurian walnut sauce with about ½ ladle of pasta cooking water in a pan large enough to hold the pasta too. Stir until the sauce becomes creamy and the right consistency. Also save a cup of the water to add later just in case your walnut sauce pasta seems dry.
- Add the drained pansotti to the sauce along with some fresh marjoram leaves, freshly ground black pepper, some broken pieces of walnuts and a little more grated parmigiano. Mix everything together well gently and serve immediately.
Notes
- To make egg-free pasta dough, increase water and wine slightly.
- You can replace the bread in the walnut sauce with ricotta for a different texture.
- Pansotti freeze well; freeze individually before storing in a sealed bag and cook from frozen.
- Vegetarians should use vegetarian Parmesan due to animal rennet in traditional cheese.
- This recipe yields approximately six generous servings, depending on pansotti size.
Nutrition Information
Show Details
Calories
746kcal
(37%)
Carbohydrates
81g
(27%)
Protein
30g
(60%)
Fat
35g
(54%)
Saturated Fat
9g
(45%)
Polyunsaturated Fat
18g
(106%)
Monounsaturated Fat
7g
(35%)
Trans Fat
0.01g
(1%)
Cholesterol
112mg
(37%)
Sodium
479mg
(20%)
Potassium
868mg
(18%)
Fiber
7g
(28%)
Sugar
5g
(10%)
Vitamin A
6648IU
(133%)
Vitamin C
28mg
(31%)
Calcium
405mg
(41%)
Iron
8mg
(44%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 6Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 746 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 746kcal | 37% |
| Carbohydrates | 81g | 27% |
| Protein | 30g | 60% |
| Fat | 35g | 54% |
| Saturated Fat | 9g | 45% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 18g | 106% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 7g | 35% |
| Trans Fat | 0.01g | 1% |
| Cholesterol | 112mg | 37% |
| Sodium | 479mg | 20% |
| Potassium | 868mg | 18% |
| Fiber | 7g | 28% |
| Sugar | 5g | 10% |
| Vitamin A | 6648IU | 133% |
| Vitamin C | 28mg | 31% |
| Calcium | 405mg | 41% |
| Iron | 8mg | 44% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Genuine Reviews
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
52 reviews
Excellent
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