Something with bacon and peas, cheese and pasta, we thought might just do the trick on this chilly November evening.
Monica Galetti showed her Agnolotti on
Masterchef The Professionals the previous evening and we were thus inspired, but failed to take up her 15 minute challenge.
This is abote Agnolotti, or Ravioli, or any other shape of filled fresh pasta, filled with a cheesy cream, served with crisp bacon and peas – almost like a Carbonara, but not including the raw egg yolks given the richness of the pasta filling.
Prepare a medium thick roux: Melt a heaped tablespoon of butter, then sweat a heaped tablespoon of plain white flour until the flour is cooked, then add hot milk, stirring vigorously and simmering gently all the time. Then add a good amount of grated Gruyere cheese, a pinch of salt, a large pinch of black pepper and a little ground nutmeg.
Let the sauce cool down, perhaps even in the fridge.
Roll the pasta to a fairly thin sheet, then pipe a strip of the filling, fold over and form little ravioli pasta. Monica’s method was to pipe a strip of filling, then squeezing the separation. I used the handle of a cooking spoon, which I could roll a little to either side gentry to push back the filling, then push down to seal the pasta. I thought that worked pretty well.
Poach in not not quite boiling salted water for a few minutes, taking care that the pasta doesn’t stick to the pan bottom.
Fry strips of smoked bacon until crisp, add mushrooms and peas, butter and white wine. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Gently toss the pasta with the sauce, serve and enjoy.
