XL Potato Agnolotti with Butter and Bottarga

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Agnolotti come from the Piedmont region in Italy and traditionally are filled with meat. Whether it’s the meat filling or the shaping technique that determines whether a filled pasta is actually considered agnolotti is to be determined, however I tend to associate the fold and pillow-slip like shape as the deciding factor. My favourite thing about this shape is the amount of filling that can be packed in, creating a super plump and delicious pasta that is usually devoured in record time.

Taking inspiration from the Sardinian culurgiones, mashed potato flavoured with freshly grated Pecorino makes up the filling for these - perfect for creating an extra plump agnolotto as the filling is easy to handle. These are so incredibly moreish, trust me. And of course just to add onto the already existing comfort levels of this dish, we’re serving it in a classic butter emulsion that’s my current go to for all stuffed pastas at the moment. What can I say? I love butter.

Finally to finish, gratings of bottarga are added which lends a unique salty hum, and marries so well with the creamy elements of this dish. Bottarga in short is cured fish roe, where the roe sac from a fish - typically grey mullet - is salted and dried to preserve. It is a fabulous finishing ingredient, and can be stored indefinitely if wrapped tightly and securely - a long term investment, if you will!

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XL Potato Agnolotti with Butter and Bottarga

Serves four - makes roughly 36-40 agnolotti

Ingredients

Pasta dough  

• 360g tipo 00

• 135g whole eggs

• 85g egg yolks

• Fine semolina (for dusting)

Filling

• 500g Dutch Cream potatoes, peeled and halved

• 100g Pecorino Romano, finely grated

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

• Salt

Butter and Bottarga Sauce

• 1/3 cup water

• 200g cold butter, cut into cubes (allow 50g butter per person)

• Bottarga, to serve

Method

Pasta Dough

1. Place the flour in a mound on your work surface and make a well in the centre.

2. Add your eggs and begin to whisk to until you have a thick custard-like consistency, incorporating a little bit of flour as you do.

3. Switch to a bench scraper and start to flip the flour from the outer edge over and onto the egg mix, using a cutting motion to then mix it in. Continue to do this around all sides until you have a shaggy dough.

4. Begin kneading the dough vigorously for a good 10 minutes until the dough is springy and elastic, and not sticking to your hands at all

5. Cover and rest for 30 minutes while you make the filling.

Filling

1. Boil the potatoes until tender and soft enough to mash .

2. Drain and let the potatoes steam in a colander for a minute or so, before passing through a potato ricer (for the finest mash). If you don’t have one, mash the potato and pass it through a fine mesh sieve.

3. Add the grated Pecorino Romano, EVOO and salt to taste and mix well to combine. Make sure you taste the potato before adding salt as the cheese adds some saltiness to it.

4. Place the filling in a piping bag and rest in the fridge until needed.

Shaping the agnolotti

1. Divide the dough into four pieces. Work with one at a time - flatten the piece with your hand or a rolling pin before passing it through the thickest setting on your pasta machine. Fold the edges in to create a neat rectangle that fits the width of your pasta machine, and run it through the thickest setting again until your dough is uniform in shape

2. Continue passing your dough through the machine, working through each thickness setting until it’s 1/16” thick, typically the third to last setting on most machines.

3. Take the sheet of rolled dough and pipe a continuous line of the the filling lengthways, about 1 inch from the bottom edge.

4. Fold the bottom edge up and over the piped filling and gently press to seal around the filling so you have a tube shape.

5. Use a fluted cutter to cut lengthways to remove the excess dough, leaving about 1cm between the edge and the filling. Make sure to cover the excess dough so you can re-roll this and use for more agnolotti.

6. Use your index finger and thumb to squeeze and separate the filling at 1 inch intervals - creating a vertical wall between each agnolotto.

7. Use the fluted cutter to cut at each section, in one smooth motion - this will ensure the sides connect with the base edge and create the pillow slip effect.

8. Place the agnolotti on a baking sheet dusted with fine semolina. Continue with the rest of your dough.

Butter Sauce/Finishing touches

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil, season generously with salt.

2. Add a 1/3 cup of cold water and add to a large frying or sauté pan over a medium heat.

3. Once the water is boiling, start to drop in a few cubes of cold butter, swirling the pan and whisking continuously until the butter is emulsified and uniform.

4. Continue adding the rest of the butter, whisking, whirling and swirling.

5. Remove the pan from the heat.

6. Drop the agnolotti into the boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes.

7. Scoop out with a slotted spoon or spider, and drop directly into the butter sauce.

8. Gently whirl and toss to coat all of the agnolotti in the sauce.

9. Divide between plates and grate over a generous amount of bottarga.