How to make pasta like an Italian mama in Trentino

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Making pasta the traditional way in Trentino was my final Destination Challenge and I can assure you that my respect for the Italian mamas went skyhigh after learning how it's actually done.

We learned to make Tortelloni with cheese and nettles at Baita S. Lucia da Fritz with the help of Chef Claudio. He showed us how it's done.

Let me guide you through the different steps.

Step 1: Prepare the Nettles

Find yourself some nettles in nature, give them a good wash and take the sting out of them.

Don't forget to wear some protective gear against the Nettle sting!

Start pulling the leaves off and rinse them in water

Then you boil them to take the sting out of them.

 Step 2: Make the pasta

This seems easy but I can assure you that it requires technique and strength. You make a little volcano of flour and add then egg yolk in the heart of the crater. 2 eggs per 100 grams of flour and add a pinch of salt.

Then you gracefully and firmly knead the pasta dough until it looks a bit like the ball you see below ;-)

CAUTION: Try not to sweat too much on your pasta :-D

That's as graceful as it gets with me... :-)

The result after half an hour of working that pasta dough.

You then wrap it vacuum and put it in the fridge for 30 min.

Step 3: Mix the nettles and cheese.

While your pasta is cooling down in the fridge you have time to mix up the nettles with the ricotta cheese. Just cut the nettles in small pieces and try not to include your fingers. :-) Then mix it all up with the ricotta cheese and knead it into a beautiful nettle cheese ball ;-)

Chop it reaaal goood.

Ricotta cheese anyone?

Mix it baby!

Step 4: Rolling rolling rolling

Now you take your pasta dough out of the fridge and after you admire how beautifully smooth it looks you go to work with an old school dough roller!

Little by little the pasta dough flattens and you just keep going until you can lay it over a newspaper and are still able to read the text. That's when you know the pasta dough is ready to be cut into squares so you can start your pasta origami moment.

This is how beautifully smooth pasta can look.

Pasta dough roller ready!

Also the rolling requires some technique.
Add pressure from straight above as much as possible and let your hands glide over the roller.

Once it gets fine enough try rolling back and forth like this.

Step 5: Pasta origami

Now that the pasta is flat enough you can start cutting out little squares and fold them into tortelloni. Don't forget to add the nettle cheese filling and use egg yolk as glue to glue the pasta together.

Works like a charm ;-)

Cutting the pasta into squares

Fold it like a boss!
Chef Claudio needed to show me a few times before I got it finally right.

Tadaaaa! A beautiful tortello made with love!

Ready for the oven!

Big thanks to Chef Claudio for showing us how it's done!

Prepare it with some garlic sauce and enjoy!

We offered these guys some of us hand made pasta and the assured us that it was super tasty :-)

Now it's your turn! Please do try recreate Tortelloni with nettles and cheese and let me know how it all worked out ;-)

Looking forward to your beautiful creations.

More about Trentino...

Canyoning in Trentino 
Things to do in Rovereto
Hiking in Valle di Ledro

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