Swiss chard and ricotta tortello pasta with smoked salmon

With the holidays approaching, smoked salmon is a must for Christmas menus thanks to it being simple, versatile and intensely flavorful. We use it for this pasta dish topped with butter, Parmigiano Reggiano and a milk foam and pair it with a Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore Casal di Serra 2021 Umani Ronchi.

This recipe originated from an idea of Gianpaolo Ghilardotti, the entrepreneur chef who heads Foodlab, which is specialized – with the Fumara brand – in processing and smoking salmon from the cold seas of the north.

Ingredients for 4-6 people:

For the dough: 250g 00 flour, 3 whole eggs, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and salt.

For the filling: 250g ricotta, 250g Swiss chard (already boiled), 1 small egg, 50g grated grana cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

For the topping: 300g Fumara smoked Norwegian salmon, 100g butter, 2 fresh sage leaves, 100g whole milk, salt and pepper.

Directions:

For the pasta: Create a mound of flour and break the two eggs on top. Add the EVOO and salt and knead until you have a uniform and elastic dough. Wrap the dough in plastic and let it sit in the refrigerator for around an hour.

For the filling: Squeeze dry the Swiss chard and finely chop it with a knife. Add the ricotta, nutmeg, egg, grated grana cheese, salt and pepper. Mix everything together well.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and roll it out to make a thin sheet. Cut medium-sized squares (around 5-6cm wide) and stuff them with the filling.

Seal the sides of the pasta and boil them for 4-5 minutes in salted water.

In the meantime, melt the butter together with the fresh sage leaves that have been chopped slightly. Cut the smoked salmon julienne-style. Create a milk foam using an immersion blender.

Drain the tortelli, place some on each plate and, using a spoon, spread some melted butter over them. Top with the smoked salmon and milk foam.

Serve with a sprinkling of Parmigiano and, if you like, some ground pepper.

Wine to pair:

Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico Superiore Casal di Serra 2021 Umani Ronchi

Straw yellow color with golden hints.To the nose it shows intense and persistent perfumes of wild flowers and aromas of yellow pulp fruit such as peach, apricot and golden apple.To the palate it’s rich and velvety with a good dose of freshness and sapidity to balance the great softness. Dry finish, persistent and intensely fruity.

Production area: Verdicchio hills. The vineyards, which are between eight and thirty years old and, are situated on the band of hillside between 200 and 350 meters above sea level, on opposite sides of the Esino valley. The soils go back to pleiocene-pleistocene formations, and are characterised by being very deep, medium-calcareous clay loams.

Grape variety: 100% Verdicchio, trained on the Guyot system. The yield of the vineyards never exceeds 7 tons per hectare.

Harvest: The harvest is carried out by hand and normally takes place in the period from the end of September to the first ten days of October. Particular attention is paid to determining the right moment for the harvest, which must coincide with reaching the best balance between sugar content, phenolic ripening and acidity.

Vinification: After a light pressing, the prime must is rapidly cooled and then goes through static decantation. Fermentation, in temperature-controlled steel tanks between 16° and 18°C, for 10-15 days. The wine does not undergo a malolactic fermentation. It ages in steel for about 5 months in contact with its own yeasts. It is bottled at the end of April and then rests again in bottle for few months. 

Alcohol content: 13% vol. 

Serving temperature: 12-14°C.

Suggested food pairings: Ideal with fish dishes, oven-cooked or grilled, roast white meat and fresh cheeses.

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