Today, I accidentally got a lot of super glue on my fingers - don't ask me how. So, as I was peeling the glue off my fingers, an interesting idea came into mind. Tofu tortellini! We ended up making a lot of the tofu tortellini and then also made a batch of Italian sausage tortellini. We froze most of the stuff, but we cooked a few and they were pretty much the best tortellinis that I've ever had in my life. Also, the filling and pasta ratio was perfect. Steve made most of them and filled some of them up on the full size, but we were so surprised at how perfect the ratio of filling and pasta turned out to be.
A few notes: We used the pasta roller to roll out the pasta. To make the 2 different types of tortellini, we used up the cheese mixture until there was about 1 cup left, then we mixed the sausage with the cheese mixture to make the new filling.
Pasta
3 cups (unsifted) AP flour
1 c semolina flour
6 eggs
2 T water
Filling
12 oz silken soft tofu
13 oz ricotta cheese
3 oz italian blend cheese
5 basil leaves
1 t salt
ground pepper
2 italian sausage links
First make the filling.
1. Put the tofu through the food processor until smooth. 12 oz is actually less than 1 brick (I saved the rest and used it in a milkshake)
2. Add the basil and cheeses and process until the basil is evenly distributed in the mixture.
3. Combine the tofu-cheese-basil mixture with the salt and ground pepper. Place this mixture in the refrigerator as you make the pasta dough. Remember, you will add the italian sausage (remove from casings) to a cup of the cheese-tofu mixture to make the meat filling.
Then, make the dough for the pasta.
1. Combine all of the ingredients and knead until the dough is pliable, but not sticky.
2. Cut the dough into small golf ball chunks and try to roll the dough out into 3 inch wide strips. This will make it easier to cut the dough into 3x3 inch squares. I found that this was the easiest size to work with. On my kitchen aid pasta roller, I rolled the pasta to the 6 setting, which is thinner than what I would use for pasta.
3. Use a 1/4 teaspoon to scoop the filling onto the pasta. In this recipe, I will briefly go over how to make it, but I'm sure you can find plenty of Italian ladies doing tortellini tutorials on YouTube.
4. With a tiny scoop of the filling in the middle, fold the square in half so that you end up with a triangle. You may need to wet 2 sides of the seam so that you can create a tight seal.
5. You should now have an isosceles triangle. Hold it in your palm so that the apex of the triangle is facing you and that the base is facing away.
6. Place your index finger against the middle of the base and use your free hand to pinch the 2 corners of the triangle together.
7. Continue to make tofu-cheese tortellinis until you have about a cup of the cheese mixture. At this time, take the sausage out of its casing and add it to the cheese mixture. Continue to make the tortellini's with the new filling.
8. These cook very quickly. Place them in boiling water and cook until they start to float.
A few notes: We used the pasta roller to roll out the pasta. To make the 2 different types of tortellini, we used up the cheese mixture until there was about 1 cup left, then we mixed the sausage with the cheese mixture to make the new filling.
Pasta
3 cups (unsifted) AP flour
1 c semolina flour
6 eggs
2 T water
Filling
12 oz silken soft tofu
13 oz ricotta cheese
3 oz italian blend cheese
5 basil leaves
1 t salt
ground pepper
2 italian sausage links
First make the filling.
1. Put the tofu through the food processor until smooth. 12 oz is actually less than 1 brick (I saved the rest and used it in a milkshake)
2. Add the basil and cheeses and process until the basil is evenly distributed in the mixture.
3. Combine the tofu-cheese-basil mixture with the salt and ground pepper. Place this mixture in the refrigerator as you make the pasta dough. Remember, you will add the italian sausage (remove from casings) to a cup of the cheese-tofu mixture to make the meat filling.
Then, make the dough for the pasta.
1. Combine all of the ingredients and knead until the dough is pliable, but not sticky.
2. Cut the dough into small golf ball chunks and try to roll the dough out into 3 inch wide strips. This will make it easier to cut the dough into 3x3 inch squares. I found that this was the easiest size to work with. On my kitchen aid pasta roller, I rolled the pasta to the 6 setting, which is thinner than what I would use for pasta.
3. Use a 1/4 teaspoon to scoop the filling onto the pasta. In this recipe, I will briefly go over how to make it, but I'm sure you can find plenty of Italian ladies doing tortellini tutorials on YouTube.
4. With a tiny scoop of the filling in the middle, fold the square in half so that you end up with a triangle. You may need to wet 2 sides of the seam so that you can create a tight seal.
5. You should now have an isosceles triangle. Hold it in your palm so that the apex of the triangle is facing you and that the base is facing away.
6. Place your index finger against the middle of the base and use your free hand to pinch the 2 corners of the triangle together.
7. Continue to make tofu-cheese tortellinis until you have about a cup of the cheese mixture. At this time, take the sausage out of its casing and add it to the cheese mixture. Continue to make the tortellini's with the new filling.
8. These cook very quickly. Place them in boiling water and cook until they start to float.