Introducing Tied Pasta! When Food Lovers Enter the Kitchen
The other day I was looking for a new way to present pasta. I believe that first courses and desserts are the parts I do best in the kitchen. I eat very little meat, and I prepare it mainly for Enzo, my husband, but I gladly make meatballs and enjoy eating them too.
I love rustic cooking, made of hand-crafted pastas, and when time allows, I get to work.
I often prepare egg pasta, my hens deliver eggs every day, so I use them for sweets and pasta… Naturally, it’s not just the two of us eating; I have two children and I am happy to share.
As mentioned above, a new dish had been on my mind for days. I certainly wanted to start with meatballs in sauce, and I needed a pasta that paired well without repeating some typical first courses.
Working at school, with Christmas crafts, I had a flash of inspiration!
Tied pasta around a meatball, a tasty and fragrant dish!
I prepared my usual egg pasta and the meatballs
Meatballs are one of the meat dishes that everyone loves, it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t like them, especially if they’re in sauce… When I cooked at the school cafeteria, a small village school, we bought from the butcher and could offer the little diners quality and taste… The meatballs were a hit, and they would compete to see who ate the most.
Keep reading to find out how I continued with the preparation of my tied pasta.
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 2 Hours
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Oven, Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter
Ingredients
- 32 meatballs (In sauce; find the recipe in the link)
- 14 oz pasta (Egg pasta, made with 10.5 oz semolina and 3 eggs)
- 18 oz ricotta
- 10.5 oz mozzarella
- 5 oz Parmesan
- to taste nutmeg
- to taste salt
Tools
I dirtied many pots, for the meatballs, to mix the ricotta, the oven tray, the pan…
Steps
As usual, I know time is never enough, but in truth, it’s done quite quickly… Prepare all the necessities to have at hand what you need
The act of cooking isolates us from the rest of our thoughts and leads us to a moment of well-being.
Start by preparing the meatballs, which you will first fry and then add them to the sauce
Then prepare the ricotta filling, mix well until you obtain a homogeneous mixture, I did not add eggs, so it remains very creamy.
Now roll out the egg pasta you prepared earlier; cut into strips about 2.3 inches wide and with the help of a pastry bag place the ricotta cream in the center
Cut the mozzarella into pieces and alternately place it on the strip, which you will then close by pinching the edges as shown in the photo
Place a meatball at the start of each strip and wrap the rest in a spiral
Finished, it looks like this
Place in a tray, where you have already poured the sauce at the bottom…
And alternate with some meatballs, sprinkle with cheese and bake in a preheated oven
400 degrees Fahrenheit for about half an hour, the top will remain crispy, and soft inside. Tasty and different.
Tied pasta can be stored in the refrigerator. It can also be stored in the freezer in individual portions. Great for the holiday table!
