Homemade Pasta: Caramelle di Pasta All’Uovo

I have been making homemade pasta the past month and when I first came across caramelle di pasta all’uova in a restaurant near Senigallia, I loved the shape.  It’s a filled pasta and less known compared to its cousins ravioli and tortellini.

Caramelle means candy and even without seeing this pasta, you can easily imagine its shape.  After some thought, it crossed my mind that this is another pasta recipe that can easily be made at home with just a simple tomato sauce.

After all, fresh pasta all’uovo is actually easy to make even if you don’t have a pasta machine (which I don’t).  It just takes some time. So let’s get started.

Homemade Pasta: Ingredients

Serves 4
Fresh Pasta

200g flour
2 eggs
a pinch of salt (optional)

Filling
250g ricotta
7-8 basil leaves finely chopped
salt, pepper and nutmeg as needed

Instructions for fresh pasta

1. Prepare the pasta by pouring the flour into a bowl.

2. Create a well and add the eggs into the well.

3. Using a fork, beat the eggs and slowly incorporate the flour.  When it gets too difficult to be mixed, take it out and knead the dough on well-floured working surface.

4. Knead it for about 10-12 minutes until it’s smooth.  (This was one the most laborious part!)

5. Cover with cling wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Instructions for filling

1. Finely chop the basil leaves.

2. Add the ricotta and mix well.

3. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg as needed.

Putting it all together

1.  On a well-floured working surface, roll the pasta dough out to a thickness of 2-3mm.  As I don’t have a pasta machine, it’s just by feel for me. It doesn’t make to be perfect – just make sure it’s thin enough.   If possible roll it into a rectangular share.  If it doesn’t work out, don’t worry. (This step was the other laborious part).

2. Cut the pasta into 5cm squares.  After making this recipe, I think you are better off with a rectangle. As you can see, my squares are far from perfect.

3. On each square, add a teaspoon of filling.  I love filling and tend to go aboard but it’s not a good idea because then the filling oozes out when you twist the ends.

4. Roll the pasta over the filling.

5. Then twist the ends like if you are wrapping candy.  Tip: If necessary, wet the edges of the pasta to help seal the filling.

6. After every caramella (singular for caramelle) is made, make sure it’s well floured or else it gets too sticky to handle when you need to put it into the pot of boiling water to cook them. If you don’t cook them immediately, keep them in the fridge to be used later that evening.

Homemade Pasta: Ready To Cook Them

1. Before bringing a pot of water to boil, prepare the tomato sauce with a drizzle of olive oil and some basil leaves.  Make sure the pan is big enough so that you can add the cooked caramelle to mix it well with the sauce.

2. When the water is boiling, add sea salt and put in the caramelle.  Cook for about 4-5 minutes.

3. To drain the caramelle, I use a slotted spoon and put them into the pan with the tomato sauce.  Mix well and serve with a sprinkle of parmesan if you wish.

It really isn’t difficult to make and again, it’s not about having perfectly shaped caramelle! Hopefully, you see that making homemade pasta is not complicated at all and if you are interested, here is another easy homemade pasta recipe for you to try out.