Radicchio stuffed pasta in cheese sauce

Mezzelune al
radicchio e Taleggio

Radicchio stuffed pasta in cheese sauce

Radicchio stuffed pasta in cheese sauce combines the spicy bitterness from the leaf chicory with the fat creaminess of taleggio in one refined mouthful.
Italians love the combination of radicchio and good cheese like gorgonzola or taleggio and it is easy to understand why, once you have tasted these crescent shaped pasta in a rich, creamy sauce.

Ingredients

For the pasta
240 g flour type OO
2 egg yolks
A little water

For the filling
125 g ricotta
125 g radicchio di Treviso
50 g grated parmesan
A generous grating of nutmeg
Olive oil, salt and pepper

For the sauce
150 g Taleggio cheese
100 ml milk
Fresh parsley

Preparation

Start by making the pasta dough. Make a volcano of flour on a clean table.
Place the egg yolks in the middle of the mount and use a fork to mix egg with flour.
Add a little water drop by drop, till you have a elastic dough.
Use the heel of your hand for kneading, when the fork is no longer useful.
Keep kneading for at least 10 minutes or use a pasta machine.
Run the dough through the pasta machine once.
If the edges are frayed, add more water, and if the dough seems sticky, add more flour.
Roll the pasta through the machine at least ten times at max width (to make up for ten minutes kneading)
Decrease the width of the pasta machine gradually, one step at a time.
Cut the pasta out in circles.
Wash the radicchio and cut it into tiny strips
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the radicchio until it becomes soft and changes colour.
Mix the fried radicchio with grated parmesan, grated nutmeg and ricotta
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Place a spoonful filling on each pasta circle
Fold the circles in halves and seal the edges.
Cut the taleggio in small cubes and heat it up slowly in a casserole with milk to make a thick cheese sauce.
Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil.
Boil the mezzelune pasta for 2-3 minutes.
Serve the radicchio stuffed pasta in cheese sauce sprinkled with parsley.