Ingredients
Method
Make the pasta dough
- Mound the flour on a work surface and make a well in the center. Crack the eggs and salt into the well and whisk with a fork, gradually pulling in flour from the edges.
- Knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Wrap in cling film and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Make the filling
- Wilt the spinach and chard in a pot with just the water clinging to the leaves, 3 to 4 minutes until fully collapsed. Drain, cool, then squeeze bone dry, this step matters, a wet filling will thin the ricotta and split the pasta later.
- Chop the squeezed greens finely and mix with ricotta, egg, Parmigiano, nutmeg, marjoram, salt and pepper until evenly combined.
Make the walnut sauce
- Soak the bread in the milk for 5 minutes, then squeeze out the excess milk.
- Blitz the walnuts, garlic, soaked bread, olive oil, Parmigiano and a pinch of salt in a food processor, pulsing in short bursts to a coarse, spoonable sauce, not a smooth paste.
Shape the pansotti
- Roll the pasta dough to about 1 to 2 mm thick, using a pasta machine or rolling pin. Cut into 6 cm squares.
- Spoon a teaspoon of filling into the center of each square. Fold into a triangle and press the edges firmly to seal, pushing out any air pockets. You should end up with about 45 to 50 pansotti.
Cook and serve
- Bring a 8-quart / 7.5 L stockpot of salted water to a boil. Working in two batches so the pot isn't crowded, cook the pansotti for 3 to 4 minutes, until they float and the pasta is tender. Lift out with a slotted spoon before adding the next batch.
- Reserve a cup of pasta water, then drain the pansotti gently.
- Toss the pansotti with the walnut sauce in a warmed bowl, loosening with 2 to 4 tablespoons of reserved pasta water until the sauce coats the pasta evenly.
- Plate and top with extra Parmigiano and toasted walnut pieces. Serve right away.
Notes
- Squeeze cooked greens bone dry before mixing the filling
- Rest pasta dough 30 minutes before rolling for easier handling
- Keep walnut sauce coarse, don't over-process it into a paste
- Cook pansotti in two batches so they don't stick together in the pot
- Freeze uncooked pansotti on a tray before bagging to keep them separate
