chelsea'srecipes

Serves 2 as a large entree, 4 as a first course

For the pasta (See Recipe Notes):

12 ounces (about 2 3/4 cups) all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

2 teaspoons kosher salt

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon olive oil

For the filling:

1 pear, peeled, cored, and cut into a small dice

8 ounces (1 cup) whole milk ricotta, at room temperature

4 ounces (1/2 cup) mascarpone, at room temperature

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Kosher salt and white pepper, to taste

For the sauce:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 cup heavy cream, at room temperature

1 cup whole or 2% milk, at room temperature

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus additional for grating

Whole nutmeg, for grating

Kosher salt and white pepper, to taste

10-12 asparagus spears, blanched and cut into 3/4-inch pieces

For the pasta, combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade attachment and pulse a few times to mix. Add the eggs and olive oil through the feeding tube and process until the dough forms a smooth ball and there are no crumbs at the bottom of the bowl, about 1 minute. 

Gather the dough into a ball, dusting with flour if it is sticky. Press the ball into a disc and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rest at room temperature for a minimum of 30 minutes and up to 4 hours. (You can refrigerate the dough overnight and bring to room temperature before using. It will have a funny green tinge to it before you roll it out, but the end results will look perfectly normal.)

Lightly dust a rimmed baking sheet with flour. Roll out the pasta according to your machine's instructions. (Or check out Emma's helpful instructions here.) Whether you are rolling the dough out on a hand-crank machine or with a KitchenAid attachment, try to make each pasta sheet as wide as you can. Place pasta sheets on the baking sheet and dust with additional flour to keep from sticking. 

Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Using the largest biscuit round you can find (I used a stainless steel prep bowl measuring 5-inches in diameter), cut out large discs from the dough. Place the cutouts on another lightly-floured rimmed baking sheet or large piece of parchment paper. 

To make the filling, combine the pears, ricotta, mascarpone, and Parmesan together in a mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper. Place a heaping teaspoon of filling in the center of a pasta round. Gather all of the sides and gently pull up and together to form a "pouch." Pinch the dough together tightly at the neck and continue with remaining rounds.

To cook the pasta, bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. In a medium skillet or sauté pan, melt the butter over medium-low to medium heat. Add the flour and stir for a minute or so to cook out the raw flour taste. Add the milk and cream, and whisk until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn heat to low. Stir in Parmesan and season with a pinch of fresh nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

Add pasta to the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes. Use a spider or slotted spoon to transfer the pouches to a wire cooling rack set over paper towels to drain for a minute or so. At this point, you can either gently toss the cooked pouches and asparagus directly in the sauce, or individually plate the pouches and asparagus followed by a drizzle of sauce. Garnish with additional grated Parmesan.