Casunziei are beetroot filled pasta pieces in a half-moon shape, resembling mezzelune, and they come from the Veneto region of north-eastern Italy. These delicious morsels are a classic warming winter dish and their reddish hue makes them the perfect pasta to try your hand at during the festive season! Follow our simple recipe to make these for yourself. You can also follow our video guide to making casunziei.
Casunziei recipe
Serves 2
Preparation Time: 1 hour (not including resting time for pasta dough)
Calories per serving: 463 kcal
Ingredients
For the pasta:
- 200g ‘00’ flour (plus more for work surface)
- 2 large eggs
Chef’s tip: When you make fresh pasta, it's always 1 egg and 100 grams of flour per person – so it’s easy to scale this recipe up or down.
For the filling:
- 2 medium beetroots (oven roasted and peeled)
- 50g ricotta cheese
- 25g fresh goats cheese
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method
Making the dough:
- On a clean work surface or large wooden board, pile the flour into a mound
- Make a well in the centre of the mound large enough for the 2 eggs
- Beat the egg mixture with the fork, slowly pulling the flour from the sides of the well until the egg has all been absorbed by the flour. As the mixture thickens, start using your hands to continue incorporating the flour
- If needed, drizzle a small amount of warm water and continue mixing until you have a ball of dough
- Then lightly flour your clean work surface
- Knead the dough by pressing the heel of one hand into the ball, keeping your fingers high
- Press down on the dough while pushing it firmly away from you. The dough should stretch and roll under your hand
- Turn the dough over, then press into the dough with your knuckles, one hand at a time. This process should be carried out around 10 times
- Form the dough back into a ball and repeat the stretching and knuckling process, using more flour if needed to prevent any stickiness
- Repeat the process for about 10-20 minutes until the dough is smooth and silky and then roll the dough into a smooth ball
- Place the dough in a small bowl and cover with a tea towel, leave to rest for an hour at room temperature
- Lightly flour your surface and shape the dough into a rough circle
- With a rolling pin, begin rolling out the dough, starting in the centre and rolling away from you to the outer edge
- Turn the dough a quarter-turn, and repeat, working your way around, until the sheet of dough is 1/8 inch thick. Scatter a small amount of flour on the dough whenever it starts to stick to the surface or the rolling pin. You now have your sheet of pasta dough
Filling the pasta:
- Roast the beetroots until soft and then purée them in a food processor (or mash with a fork if you don’t have a processor)
- Blend the beetroot purée with the cheese and add plenty of seasoning
- Find a circular biscuit cutter or a round jar lid to cut out the pasta
- Cut the pasta into as many circles as your dough allows. You may need to reform the ball and roll it out several times to use up all the dough
- Now, take a large teaspoon of filling and place it in the middle of each pasta circle
- When filled, fold each circle in half and seal the dough with your fingers, ensuring there are no air bubbles trapped inside and no gaps where your filling could escape. Sealing the edge with a little bit of water is a handy trick to bear in mind
Cooking the pasta:
- Bring a large pan of generously salted water to the boil and add your pasta
- Cook the casunziei for 3 minutes
- Whilst your pasta cooks, melt a generous knob of butter - seasoned with sage or rosemary depending on your preference - over a medium-high heat until steaming
- When the pasta is ready, transfer to the butter and toss gently to coat
- Finally, plate and serve your casunziei. Buon appetito!
Casunziei wine pairing recommendation
The earthy sweetness of the beetroot-filled casunziei will shine when paired with a richer white wine or a light to medium-bodied red. For white, we’d look no further than a really good Pinot Grigio – the crispness of this wine will cut through the butter sauce that accompanies the filled pasta with aplomb. Potentially an even better pairing though would be a light-bodied red, like a Pinot Nero. Mildly tannic and brightly acidic, this northern Italian red will complement the beetroot’s earthiness without overpowering it.
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