Sausage & Mozzarella Stuffed Tortelloni w/ Tomato Spinach Cream Sauce

In an attempt to restart this blog, I am focusing on taking time on the weekend to cook more involved meals. This morning I had a desire to work on a meal over several hours; nothing too complex, but requiring time to develop.

First, I wanted to start a simple sauce that also brought some depth to the dish as a whole.

Place sauce pan over medium heat. In three tablespoons of butter, saute onions and garlic (with a heavy pinch of salt) until translucent. Add some white wine and reduce. Add tomatos and spinach with olive oil, another pinch of salt, tablespoon of freshly ground pepper, and tablespoon of crushed red pepper. After 15 minutes reduce heat to low and allow to simmer. After some time add cream and continue over medium-low heat.

For the tortelloni, take one and three-fourths cups flour, with one teaspoon salt and sift onto counter. Make a crater in the center and crack two eggs into middle. Bring dough together by incorporating flour slowly into eggs. After mixed, kneed. Let dough sit for 15 minutes in ball. Roll out pasta and let dry on a rack while the filling is made.

The filling is simple, in a food processor incorporate equal parts mozzarella and sausage (about 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup each) with a pinch of salt and drizzling of olive oil. Lay out pasta and place stuffing intermittently down the length (approximately every inch and a half). Cut between filling with pizza cutter. Wet edges of pasta with water and seal by brining two opposite corners together. Seal into triangle, then pinch two opposite corners together to form completed tortelloni. Boil in salted water until pasta floats to the top. Take cooked pasta and toss with sauce. Let cook for a few minutes further if necessary. Add parmesan to taste and serve.