Tortelli di zucca – pumpkin pasta with amaretti and mostarda

Preheat the oven to 200°C with conventional top and bottom heat. Weigh 600 g pumpkin flesh without skin, seeds or the fibrous center. Cut it into pieces about 3 cm across and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Do not add fat or water.

Roast the pumpkin for about 35–45 minutes, until soft and easy to mash, with a slightly dry surface. If it is still noticeably watery, leave it in the oven for a few more minutes. Transfer all the pumpkin and its juices from the baking sheet to a bowl and mash with a fork into a smooth puree. Let cool for about 30 minutes; do not pass anything through a sieve and do not drain it.

Finely crush the amaretti and chop the weighed mostarda, keeping all its syrup. Add all the amaretti, the mostarda with its syrup, 60 g grated Grana Padano, 2 g salt, all the nutmeg and the pepper to the cooled pumpkin. Mix thoroughly into a thick filling that holds its shape on a teaspoon. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours to let the flavors blend.

Once the filling has chilled, put 300 g flour in a bowl; reserve the remaining 20 g for rolling. Add all three eggs, all 15 g weighed water and the remaining 2 g salt. Mix, then knead on the work surface for about 8–10 minutes, until the dough is firm and smooth. Cover tightly with an overturned bowl or wrap it and let rest for 30 minutes. Keep the filling refrigerated.

Divide the dough into four pieces and work with one at a time, keeping the others covered. Roll by hand or pass through a pasta machine, gradually reducing the thickness until the sheets are about 1 mm thick. Use only the reserved 20 g flour on the work surface and pasta sheets, dividing it between the batches.

Cut the sheets into squares about 8 cm across. Put a heaping teaspoon of filling in the middle of each, distributing all the filling among the pieces. Fold each square diagonally, gently push the air from the filling toward the edges and firmly press both open sides together. Do not moisten them with extra water. Knead the dough scraps together, cover briefly and roll again; use all the dough and filling. You should have about 48 triangular tortelli.

Arrange the filled pasta in a single layer on parchment paper, leaving space between the pieces. Do not add flour beyond the amount reserved earlier. Divide the tortelli into two batches of about 24 pieces. Keep them refrigerated until cooking, especially the second batch while the first is in the pot.

Bring about 4 liters of water without salt to a boil in a large pot. Meanwhile, wash and dry the weighed sage leaves. Melt all the butter in a wide skillet, add all the leaves and heat gently for 2–3 minutes, until the butter takes on their aroma. Do not let it burn. Pour half the butter, along with some of the leaves, into a small bowl for the second batch of pasta, and briefly remove the skillet from the heat.

Lower the first batch of about 24 tortelli into the gently boiling water. Cook for about 3–4 minutes from when the water returns to a boil, until the pasta, including the sealed edges, is tender and cooked through. Cook for an extra minute if needed. Lift the pasta out with a slotted spoon, let the water drain briefly and transfer directly to the skillet with the first half of the sage butter. Do not add cooking water to the sauce.

Gently coat the first batch in the butter over low heat without tearing the pasta. Transfer to a warmed platter, sprinkle with 10 g of the remaining cheese and cover loosely. Cook the second batch the same way, then coat it in the skillet with the reserved half of the sage butter and sprinkle with the last 10 g cheese. Divide both batches into four servings. Scrape all the sauce and sage leaves onto the servings and serve immediately.