Goats' cheese, butternut squash, pancetta and sage rotolo
This dish is surprisingly easy to make and very glamorous.
For this recipe you will need a pasta machine.
Ingredients
For the pasta
- 1 free-range egg
- 4 free-range egg yolks
- 180g/6oz 00 pasta flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 tbsp olive oil
For the filling
- rapeseed oil, for frying
- 200g/7oz pancetta, cut into 1cm/½in cubes
- 1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1cm/½in cubes
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 large red chilli, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh sage
- 250g/9oz goats' cheese, rind removed
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the cream sauce
- 100ml/3½fl oz double cream
- 150g/5½oz young small spinach leaves, washed and drained
- 150g/5½oz freshly podded peas, cooked and refreshed in cold water
- 150g/5½oz freshly podded broad beans, cooked, peeled and refreshed in cold water
- ½ lemon, juice only
- extra virgin rapeseed oil
Method
Preheat the oven to 160C/140C Fan/Gas 3.
To make the pasta, put all of the ingredients in a bowl and, using your hands, gently mix together until they form a dough. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
For the filling, heat a little oil in a non-stick frying pan and add the pancetta. Cook over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes, or until the pancetta fat starts to melt, and then add the squash. Cook for a further minute and then add the onion, garlic, chilli and sage. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Drain any excess oil from the pan. Cover and refrigerate.
Remove the pasta dough from the fridge and cut in half. Roll the dough into 2 sheets using a pasta machine. Flour a work surface and the rollers of the pasta machine. Flatten out the dough into a rectangle. Set the rollers to their widest setting. Roll the pasta through the rollers. Narrow the rollers by changing the machine setting by one notch, then pass the rolled pasta through the rollers again. Dust the rolled pasta with flour. Repeat the process until they've been passed through the narrowest setting on the machine.
Blanch each sheet for 1 minute in boiling salted water, before refreshing in cold water. Remove from the water and pat dry using a tea towel.
On a clean, flat surface lay out two large pieces of cling film next to each other with a short edge nearest you, overlapping each length so that the surface area is double that of the combined size of the two pasta sheets. Lay the pasta sheets on the cling film in the opposite direction, overlapping in the middle to make one large sheet.
Combine the filling with the cheese and season with salt and pepper. Carefully spread the mixture evenly over the pasta, leaving a 2cm/1in gap at the bottom and a 4-5cm/1½-2in gap at the top. Using the cling film under the pasta to help you, roll the pasta up like a Swiss roll, keeping the roll tight. Once rolled up, wrap the cling film around the pasta and tuck the ends under the roll to seal.
Heat a non-stick pan over a medium heat with a little rapeseed oil. Carefully cut the pasta rotollo into four thick (3-4cm/1½-1¾in) slices, leaving the cling film on. Lightly flour the cut sides, remove the cling film and carefully put the pieces in the pan. Colour on each side until golden-brown then transfer to the oven for 5 minutes, to finish.
For the cream sauce, in a medium saucepan, bring the cream to the boil then add the spinach, peas and broad beans. Season with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Divide the cream sauce between four serving bowls and place the rotolo on top. Drizzle a little extra virgin rapeseed oil on top and serve.