Several weeks ago I mentioned Coothink's new Root Source Challenge contests.  The first Root Source Challenge subject is flat-leaf parsley and this is my entry.  I'll call it flat-leaf parsley four ways—two-cheese and parsley filled tortelloni with parsley mixed into pasta dough, topped with parsley pesto and garnished with a bit of parsley as well.  If it had been a more strongly-flavored ingredient subject for the challenge, I wouldn't have incorporated it so thoroughly into the dish.  I mean . . . four ways might be a bit much for, say, garlic.  But, though distinctively delicious, the flavor of parsley isn't overwhelming.  Plus I used the parsley sparingly in the tortelloni filling and you don't need to eat the garnish.  All in all, I think this is a nice representation of the variety of ways in which you can use flat-leaf parsley and it by no means overwhelms.  I hope the folks at Cookthink agree!

(Well folks . . . I didn't win the flat-leaf parsley Root Source Challenge, but I did get an honorable mention . . . which I'm very happy about. Not bad for a rookie like me! Congratulations to Helen of Food Stories for her winning recipe and to everyone else who had the courage and creativity to throw their hats into the ring . . . and to Cookthink for putting the whole thing together. I'm away from my kitchen this weekend and will be again next weekend, so it'll be a couple of weeks before I participate in another Root Source Challenge, but I'm already looking forward to my next.)

As an aside, I've made tortelloni before and I've been asked whether I meant "tortellini" . . . to which I've explained: "No, I mean tortelloni, which is like tortellini, but bigger."  Just thought I'd get that out of the way here—a preemptive strike, of sorts.



Now, on to the recipe, which makes 16-20 tortelloni, depending on how large you make them.  As a pasta course served in conjunction with other courses, like a meat or a fish course, this recipe serves 4 if you serve 4 tortelloni per eater.  As a main course, it'll serve 2-3.

Ingredients for the tortelloni filling:

• 4 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated
• 15 oz. ricotta cheese
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup loosely packed flat-leaf parsley, stems removed and finely chopped

To make the tortelloni filling (this can be done while the pasta dough is resting (see below), but I'm listing it first so the tortelloni-making instructions flow better):

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.  That's it!

Ingredients for the pesto:

• 4 cups loosely packed flat-leaf parsley, stems removed
• 4 oz. Parmesan Regiano, grated
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice to preserve color
• salt
• pepper

To make the flat-leaf parsley pesto (as with the pesto, this can be done while the pasta dough is resting (see below), but I'm listing it first so the tortelloni-making instructions flow better):

1. Pre-heat a skillet on the stove top over medium heat, then toast the pine nuts until they begin to brown, about 3 minutes, shaking the skillet occasionally to turn the nuts.
2. In a food processor or blender, combine parsley, grated Parmesan, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and lemon/lime juice and process/blend thoroughly.  If you don't have a food processor or blender, simple mince all of these ingredients as finely as you can with a knife and then combine.
3. Salt and pepper to taste.

Ingredients for the pasta dough:

• 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup loosely packed flat-leaf parsley, stems removed

To make the tortelloni:

1. First, fill a large pot with water, put a tablespoon or two of salt in it, cover it and bring it to a boil over high heat.  This is the pot you'll be boiling your pasta in.  One lesson I learned as a teen working in an Italian restaurant is to get your pasta water boiling first . . . before you start any of your other preparations.  Check it occasionally and, if necessary, add some water.  You don't want to end up ready to serve your pasta course but waiting for a large pot of water to boil.  Much better to get it rolling early and keep it rolling.
2. In a separate, smaller pot, steam parsley for 2 minutes in a steamer basket or, if you don't have a steamer basket, blanch the parsley in boiling water for 30 seconds.
3. Place steamed/blanched parsley on a clean dish towel or several layers of paper towels.  Roll the parsley up in the towel and press moisture out of the parsley.  Replace towels with dry ones if necessary.  The goal is to remove as much moisture from the parsley as possible.  Exceedingly wet parsley will throw off the wet/dry balance of your pasta dough.  (Not to worry, the balance is pretty easy to restore.  Read on!)
4. Finely chop the now-mostly-dry steamed parsley.
5. Place flour in a food processor and turn it on to aerate the flour.  Add the beaten eggs and the chopped parsley through the food processor feed tube with the processor running.  The flour and egg should come together into dough in about 30 seconds.  If the mixture isn't coming together, add water by the teaspoon until the dough comes together.  If the dough is too wet . . . sticky to the touch . . . add additional flour by the tablespoon.  See, I told you it wouldn't be hard to restore the balance.  While mixing, you may want to stop and restart the processor a few times, to shift the contents a bit if they're sitting above the whirring blades.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for five minutes until the dough is smooth.  (In the alternative, if you don't have a food processor, start with the flour in a mound on a hard surface—a large cutting board works well, so does a baking sheet.  Make a hole in the middle of the mound of flour.  Pour a bit of the egg into the hole and begin working the flour into the egg with a fork or spoon.  Add a little more egg and combine with the flour.  Repeat until all of the egg is combined with the flour and the mixture has begun to form a dough.  Add the parsley and knead by hand for ten minutes.  If the mixture is too dry to come together, add water by the teaspoon.  If the mixture is too wet . . . sticky to the touch . . . add flour by the tablespoon.)
7. Form the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic or put it into a plastic bag and force out the air before closing.  Place the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to relax (the dough, not you . . . you need to keep cooking).
8. Meanwhile, make the tortellini filling and the pesto.  (Remember that note above about making these two elements while the dough is resting?)
9. Time to make the tortelloni.  Cut off about one-fifth of the ball of pasta dough and then re-wrap the remaining dough in plastic so it doesn't dry out.
10. On a lightly-floured surface, use a rolling pin to begin rolling our your dough into a sheet.  If you have a pasta rolling/cutting machine, use it to turn out a thin sheet of pasta.  If you don't have a pasta machine, use your rolling pin (or wine bottle, if you don't have a rolling pin . . . you can make pasta anywhere, anytime . . . no special equipment necessary!) to roll the dough into the thinest sheet you can manage.
11. Cut a 3 in. x 3 in. square of pasta dough.  (You can eyeball it.  No need to pull out the ruler unless you're really, really into rulers.)  Place a teaspoon of your tortelloni filling just off center.  Fold the pasta dough over the filling to form a triangle.  Press any air out of the pocket that's holding the filling and seal the edges of your triangle.  Trim any uneven edges.  Then take the two corners at the ends of the long side of the triangle and pull them back behind the pocket of filling and press them together.  You've just made a tortelloni!  Toss the tortelloni in some flour, (so it won't stick when you) then set it on a baking sheet or other hard surface.
12. Repeat until you run out of pasta dough and/or tortelloni filling.

Assemble the dish by heating the pesto over low heat (the Parmesan in the pesto will burn easily if the heat's too high).  Then gently place the tortelloni in boiling water, cook for 3 minutes (they should be floating), remove with slotted spoon and drain in a colander.  (Do not just dump the tortelloni and pasta water into the colander—the tortelloni will break.  Treat them gently!)  Plate the tortelloni, top it with warm pesto, a garnish of flat-leaf parsley and serve your flat-leaf parsley four ways!