Sweet Pea and Black Pepper Agnolotti, as seen on FN's H&P Dairy Farmers Of Wisconsin (Wisconsin Cheese).
Recipe courtesy of Ginevra Iverson for Food Network Kitchen

Sweet Pea and Black Pepper Agnolotti

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  • Level: Intermediate
  • Total: 1 hr 30 min (includes resting time)
  • Active: 1 hr
  • Yield: 4 to 6 servings
For an eye-catching dish to impress everyone at your table, look no further than these handmade agnolotti. Filled with a puree of spring peas and Asiago cheese, these bite-size pasta parcels are tossed with a simple lemon butter sauce and then topped with fresh mint and a shower of more cheese. Really, this is all we want to eat once spring rolls around.

Ingredients

Filling and Sauce:

Pasta Dough:

Directions

Special equipment:
a pasta machine or pasta attachment for a stand mixer; a fluted pasta wheel; a pastry bag fitted with a 3/4-inch-wide plain tip
  1. For the filling and sauce: Shred the Asiago on the large holes of a box grater. Place 1/2 cup of the cheese in an airtight container in the refrigerator for serving. Reserve the remaining cheese for the filling.
  2. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until foamy, but not brown. Add the leeks, shallots and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and translucent, but not brown, about 5 minutes. Add the peas and cook until heated through and softened, but still bright green, about 1 minute. Transfer the mixture to a food processor and add the lemon zest, 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon pepper, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the reserved Asiago. Process, scraping down the sides as needed, until smooth. Let cool to room temperature, then transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a 3/4-inch-wide plain tip.
  3. For the pasta dough: Whisk the oil, whole eggs and yolk with a fork in a large liquid measuring cup.
  4. Put the flour and a large pinch of salt in a food processor and pulse briefly to combine. With the motor running, slowly add the egg mixture through the feed tube and process until the dough forms a ball around the blade. (If the dough is too sticky to form a ball, add a tablespoon or so of flour and process again. If it is too crumbly to form a ball, add cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and process again.) Once the dough forms a ball, process until smooth and springy, 20 to 30 seconds.  
  5. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead several times until it comes together in a smooth ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. (The dough can be made 1 day ahead, wrapped and refrigerated. Let it come to room temperature before rolling.) 
  6. Anchor a pasta machine to your countertop or fit a stand mixer with the pasta attachment. Set the machine to the widest setting. Unwrap the dough and cut it into 4 equal pieces. Wrap 3 of the pieces while you work with the fourth.  
  7. Flatten the dough piece into a rectangle and lightly dust with flour. Roll it through the pasta machine. Fold the dough in thirds like a letter and feed it through the pasta machine. Repeat the folding and feeding of the dough through the machine 2 more times. (Rolling and folding in this manner will help strengthen and smooth the dough.)  
  8. Set the pasta machine to the next setting (one setting thinner than the widest). Flour the dough as necessary and feed it through the machine. Repeat, feeding it through one more time. Adjust the machine to the next thinnest setting and feed the dough through 2 times as above. Continue changing the setting and feeding the dough through 2 times for each setting until you have fed the dough through the second-to-last setting. The dough should be thin enough to see your hand through. Cover the dough sheet with plastic wrap. Repeat the folding and rolling process with the 3 remaining pieces of dough, covering each dough sheet as you finish. 
  9. Lightly dust a baking sheet with flour. Starting 1 inch from one end of a sheet of dough, pipe an even line of filling all the way down it, stopping 1 inch from the other end. Fold the dough over so that it extends about 1 inch past the filling and press to seal the long edge. Trim the excess dough from the sealed side with a fluted pasta wheel. Seal the ends by pinching them together. With your thumb and forefinger, pinch every inch along the dough sheet to make little pockets of filling (short fingernails work best here so the dough doesn't tear). Use the fluted pasta wheel to cut between each pocket, starting closest to you and pushing firmly away, creating little purses. Transfer to the baking sheet and repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Refrigerate until ready to cook.
  10. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.
  11. Combine the lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons water and remaining 5 tablespoons butter in a large skillet. Heat over medium heat, swirling often, until the butter is melted and the sauce is emulsified.
  12. Add the agnolotti to the boiling water and stir. Once they float to the surface, let them cook for about 1 minute. Use a spider or slotted spoon to transfer the agnolotti to the skillet and coat in the sauce. Gently transfer to a warm serving platter, top with the reserved 1/2 cup Asiago and sprinkle with the mint and black pepper.

Cook’s Note

When measuring flour, we spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off excess. (Scooping directly from the bag compacts the flour, resulting in dry baked goods.)