Pasta rolls with ricotta and thyme

 

I am scheduling my Easter menu, as my family will be with me for lunch on Easter day. 10 people in total, from 14 to 80, with very different tastes and habits.

As colours, flowers, eggs and bunnies are a must of Spring, I will try to reproduce the mood on my table and here is what I will prepare for lunch:

Zucchini and puff pastry roses

Fennel, shrimps and orange salad

Asparagus soup with quail egg

Roses of pasta with thyme

Stuffed salmon

Vegetable terrine

3 chocolate mousse

You have most of the recipes already published in this blog, and just click on the link to see them in case you want to create a similar menu!

Take your time: consider at least 2,5 hours to make them, plus the time to bake it.

This pasta can be prepared in advance and frozen for a month or two, after sealing it well, so I have already made it.

Just remember to remove it from the freezer the day before, and let it de-frost in the fridge.

Sorry not to be able to show it already baked, this picture will be available on Easter day only, after 1 pm. central Europe time!!!!

Here is the pasta recipe I made for the 10 of us, as with so many dishes you cannot eat a full portion of everything.

It makes about 30 rolls which means a good portion of 5 rolls each person for 6 people.

Home made eggpasta

2 large eggs

200 grs  00 flour

Bechamel – White sauce

1,1 litre milk

100 grs. Butter

100 grs flour

Salt and pepper

Filling

450 grs/1 lb. fresh ricotta (drained if necessary)

150 grs. 1/3 lb.  grated Parmigiano Reggiano o Grana padano

2 table spoons (possibly) fresh thyme leaves (washed, dried and stems removed)

Butter to grease your baking pan

Grease your baking pan with some butter.

Prepare your pasta dough, as explained here, and let it rest in a bowl for ½ hour covered with a napkin.

In the meanwhile prepare the bechamel sauce as explained here

Mix the cheeses with the thyme, taste the mix and add salt if needed. Refrigerate until needed.

Cut the dough into batches and pull out the dough with the pin or the machine until very thin.Cut it into long stripes approx. 4x20 cm.(1.5 x8 inches) . It is important they are more or less the same size. When boiling they grow a lot.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the stripes for a couple of minutes.

Lay them flat and drain them on a clean tea towel.

Spread a thin layer of the cold cheese mix on each cooked stripe and roll it.

Put them in the greased baking pan, standing, so that you can see the layers.

Cover with the béchamel sauce and bake them at 180° for about half an hour or until the béchamel in the centre of the pan boils slightly.

Serve hot and enjoy!

Happy Easter!

Shrimp, fennel and orange salad

I ate this salad the first time in a famous restaurant many years ago; this is a fresh salad or, as I prefer to serve it, a very colourful appetiser I usually serve with the drinks while waiting for dinner or for a happy hour. In this case cut the ingredients a little bit smaller and serve in spoons or small bowls.

More than quantities, here I suggest proportions!

Ingredients

2 oranges peeled, all zest and pips removed

2 tbl spoons of orange juice

2 fennel bulbs, finely sliced (reserve the feathery fronds)

300 grs. of cold boiled shrimps

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 spoons orange juice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1.   Wash well the oranges. Cut off the skin (orange and white part) with very sharp knife and cut out the segments from between the membranes, discarding the pips and any pith still attached. Cut the oranges into pieces and place them a bowl.

2.   Wash and dry the fennel. Discard the hardest parts and slice the vegetable very finely and make small pieces. Add to the bowl with the boiled shrimps - whole or cut into pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Mix in the olive oil and orange juice, leave to marinate for 1 or 2 minutes and before serving.

  

TIPYou can prepare it in advance, just seasoning with the oil. Add salt and orange juice to taste before serving. Decorate with the green feathery leaves from the fennel.