Servings: 2
Calories: 796kcal
Equipment
- Food processor
- Air tight container for resting
- Piping bag with medium round tip (alternatively, you can use a teaspoon)
- Pasta roller and cutter (if not using a rolling pin and knife)
- Pastry/pasta cutting wheel
- Oven
- Frypan
Ingredients
Pasta Dough
- 100 g 00 flour
- 80 g fresh nettle leaves picked from the top of the plant
- 40 g semolina
- 40 g light rye flour
- 1 egg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp liquid smoke hickory
Pasta Filling
- 30 g walnuts
- 60 g mascarpone
- 40 g ash coated chèvre (goats cheese)
- 10 g panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 egg
Beetroot Purée
- 400 g beetroot
- 500 ml water plus more as required
- 2 bay leaves
- 25 ml white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- salt to season
Cocoa-Rhubarb Crumb
- 2 slices sourdough bread
- 2 stalks rhubarb
- 1 tbsp dark cocoa
- 1 tbsp water plus more as required
Carrot Tuile
- 5-6 small purple carrots
- 10 g flour
- canola oil for frying
- water as required
Garnishes
- 50 g shimeji mushrooms
- 1 tbsp canola oil for frying
- small handful mint leaves
- small handful micro-tatsoi
Instructions
Pasta Dough
- Wearing a durable pair of gloves, pick the leaves from the tops of the nettle plants. These will be the newer, softer leaves. Boil in water for 2-3 minutes to neutralise the sting, before draining and puréeing in a blender or food processor.
- Form a well of flour with the eggs, oil, liquid smoke, and nettle purée in the centre, and then use a fork and your hands to gradually incorporate into a ball of dough. The moisture levels should be such that it’s soft without sticking to anything. If it’s too wet, add flour one tablespoon at a time.
- Knead firmly for 10 minutes, and then rest covered and away from direct sunlight and heat for 30 minutes.
Pasta Filling
- Roast the shelled walnuts in a 200 degree Celsius oven for 5-10 minutes, until fragrant. Allow to cool, and then grind into a paste using a mortar and pestle.
- Stir the walnuts through the other filling ingredients, and season with salt and pepper. Load into a piping bag with a medium round tip.
Cappellacci
- Pass the dough through the pasta machine on the thickest setting a few times, folding in half over itself in between each pass. Then step incrementally through to a thickness of 6.
- Use a straight-edged rolling pasta cutter or knife to cut out squares of approximately 70mm, and then pipe a large grape-sized dollop of filling into the centre of each square.
- To fold into cappellacci, first bring two corners together to form a triangle. Seal the edges, ensuring that no air is trapped.
- Next, depress the filling inwards slightly towards the corners that you’ve just joined, forming a shallow hollow. Bring the other two corners around this to meet; overlap them and press together firmly to seal in place.
- Transfer to baking paper lined trays, and refrigerate uncovered for up to one day before cooking.
Beetroot Purée
- Peel and quarter the beetroot, and add to a saucepan with the water, vinegar, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Boil until the beetroot is soft, and the water has halved, about 30 minutes. Note that you may need to top up the water as you go.
- Remove from the heat, discard the bay leaves, and blend in a food processor until smooth. This purée can be made a few days in advance and stored it in the fridge.
Cocoa-Rhubarb Crumb
- Roughly chop the rhubarb, and cook in a medium-sized saucepan with the water until soft, about 15 minutes. Purée in the food processor, and stir in the cocoa.
- If required, add enough water to make it runny, and then soak the sliced bread in it for 10-15 minutes, or until soggy.
- Drain any excess liquid and roast in the oven at 100-120 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes, or until it’s completely dry.
- Pulse into a crumb in the processor. If still sticky, return to the oven until crunchy. This element can also be made a few days in advance and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Carrot Tuile
- Boil the carrots in the water for 10 minutes, until soft, before draining and puréeing in the food processor.
- Strain through a cloth, discarding the flesh. Into the remaining liquid, whisk the flour, ensuring that it doesn't clump.
- Heat the oil in a medium-sized frypan on medium-high heat, and then pour in the liquid, working in two separate batches. The oil will spit, so be careful and consider using a splatter screen.
- Once all bubbles have disappeared, quickly and carefully remove using a spatula.
Garnishes
- Trim the shimeji into individual mushrooms, and fry in small batches on medium-high heat (around 30 seconds, until they begin to brown). Transfer to paper towels to drain.
- Fry the mint leaves in the same oil, noting that they’ll only need a few seconds before they’re ready. Remove as soon as they’ve turned a vibrant green. Retain the cooking oil.
- The micro-tatsoi is served fresh; trim it into small clumps of a similar height to the shimeji.
Plating
- Begin by spooning a generous amount of the beetroot purée into a circle on the plate; about a centimetre in depth.
- Sprinkle a small handful of the cocoa-rhubarb crumb across the purée, allowing it spill onto the plate here and there.
- Nestle the cappellacci upright on top of the crumb, and carefully spoon a small amount of the reserved oil onto each piece of pasta, letting it pool in the hollows.
- Stand the mushrooms and micro-tatsoi up in the purée, interspersed between the cappellacci, and crumble the fried mint leaves around the outside.
- Finish by arranging the tuile to enclose the cappellacci.
Notes
When rolling and cutting your pasta dough, divide it into smaller balls of dough, and store them in an airtight container until needed. This will prevent it from drying out and becoming difficult to fold into cappellacci.
Nutrition
Calories: 796kcal | Carbohydrates: 120.6g | Protein: 32.4g | Fat: 22.7g | Saturated Fat: 6.4g | Cholesterol: 152mg | Sodium: 877mg | Potassium: 1187mg | Fiber: 14.5g | Sugar: 20.4g | Calcium: 238mg | Iron: 7mg
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