Scamorza & Speck Tortelloni Recipe

These tasty tortelloni are filled with speck, a type of dry-cured ham - similar to prosciutto - and smoked scamorza cheese. Speck, known and formally recognised in Italy as Speck Alto Adige PGI, is an ever-so-slightly smoked ham from South Tyrol in the North of Italy. Produced by lightly smoking salted pork hind quarters and then allowing the meat a 22-week-long curing period, followed by the application of a special crust of salt (strictly monitored so that it never exceeds 5% of the final product), speck is one of Italy's most magnificent cured meat creations. Each tortellone is also filled with scamorza cheese, reminiscent in texture of mozzarella but far more flavoursome, adding even more sumptuous depth to these special tortelloni. We recommend you serve with a velvety sage butter and a sprinkling of Parmesan.

Make our Scamorza & Speck Tortelloni

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 1½ Hours

Calories per serving: 834 kcal

Ingredients

For the Pasta:

• 400g “00” flour
• 4 large eggs

For the Filling:

• 200g Speck
• 200g Scamorza
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

Making the pasta sheet for your tortelloni is very simple and we’ve outlined the process in the steps below. We also have a helpful video guide if you’d like to follow along with Roberta as she makes fresh pasta dough from scratch.

For the Pasta:

Making the Dough

• Start by making a mound with your flour on a wooden board or clean work surface. Then make a well in the centre to form a crater-like shape. 
• Crack the eggs into the centre and, with a fork, start whisking to combine flour and egg, slowly incorporating more and more of the flour from the edges of the crater as you go until you’re left with a thick mixture.
• At this stage the mixture becomes too sticky for the fork so we recommend using your hands (or a dough scraper if you have one) to incorporate the rest of the flour.
• Form the mixture into a ball of dough and begin kneading it.

Kneading the Dough

• To knead, drag the dough forward with your palm, using the other hand to hold it steady. Then pull the stretched dough back over, turn it around and start again. Repeat this process until you’re left with a firm, smooth consistency. 
• We recommend 10-20 minutes of kneading to create a nice elastic dough. A good way of checking if you’ve kneaded the dough well is to press your finger into the centre. As you lift your finger away, the dough should spring back up.

Resting the Dough

• Wrap the dough in a tea towel (a more sustainable alternative to cling film) and set aside to rest for about 20-30 minutes at room temperature. This is a good time to prepare the filling for your tortelloni.

Rolling the Dough

• Once rested, unwrap the dough and divide it into two pieces. Cover one half with the tea towel to keep it from drying out and set aside. Press the remaining piece of dough into a flat circle using your hands. Next, take a rolling pin or matterello and begin rolling out the dough to create a thin sheet. This will take a little while if you’re doing it by hand, so if you have a pasta machine now is the moment to put it to use, however this is not by any means an essential piece of kit!
• When your pasta sheet, called a sfoglia, is ready, you should be able to see your hand through it. 

Shaping the Tortelloni

• Lay your first pasta sheet flat on a clean surface and trim the ends so you have a neat rectangular shape. 
• Cut your sheet into squares, about 2” by 2”, and place a small amount of filling in the middle of each square.
• Dab a tiny bit of water around the edge of each filled square, so that when you seal the tortelloni the pieces stay closed.
• Fold each square in half over the top of the filling to form a triangle shape. Gently push out any air bubbles trapped inside and seal the triangles.
• Take each triangle and place the end of the spoon against the filling and fold two corners of the triangle around the handle of the spoon to form a ring. Press them together with your fingers so that the tortelloni is well sealed and none of the filling can escape.

Cooking the Tortelloni

• Bring a large saucepan of generously salted water to the boil. Carefully place your homemade tortelloni into the pan and cook for 3 minutes.
• Serve with a sage butter sauce and a sprinkling of Parmigiano Reggiano!

For the Filling:

• Combine the speck and scamorza in a food processor and blitz to make a thick paste.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• When ready, spoon the mixture evenly onto your sheet of pasta dough.