Green cheese tortellini with tomato sauce

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 200 g leaf spinach (frozen)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 150 g semolina (durum wheat)
• 550 g flour
• 5 eggs
• 100 g processed cheese, cream cheese, ricotta or similar
• 200 g cheese (e.g. Parmesan, Emmental, Provolone, Cheddar), mixed
• possibly milk
• some basil
• 1 onion(s)
• 800 g tomatoes, fresh, pureed or from a can
• 2 cloves garlic
• basil
• some olive oil
• salt and pepper
• Sugar
• oregano
• Flour for the table surface

Instructions

Working time approx. 3 hours; Total time approx. 3 hours

Thaw the spinach leaves and puree with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, or chop as finely as possible. Mix the flour, durum wheat semolina, add the spinach puree, eggs, and salt. Use the dough hook of a hand mixer to mix, then knead by hand until a firm dough forms. Cover and refrigerate. For the filling, finely chop all non-creamy cheeses, ideally in a food processor (even the already grated cheese—simply grating by hand will certainly work in a pinch). Then mix with the creamy cheeses and the spices and herbs until a workable mixture forms. Thin with milk if necessary. Then prepare the tomato sauce: Peel and finely chop the onion, and fry in olive oil until translucent. Finely chop the tomatoes (if fresh) and add them. Peel, chop, or press the garlic, and add them. Season, then reduce the heat to low and let the sauce simmer. Set up a pasta machine, lightly flour the table surface, and have a saucer or egg cup with a little water ready. Take the dough out of the fridge in portions (otherwise it will get hard) and roll it out to the second or third highest setting. Cut out circles (roll out any leftover dough each time) and moisten with a very small amount of water. Then place about half a teaspoon of the filling in the center of each and fold it over. Press the two pointed ends together. This step is best done with two or three people. (One rolls out, one cuts out, one fills). Be careful! The rolled out sheets of dough can easily stick together. If stacking is unavoidable due to space constraints, use flour or kitchen towels to separate them. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt. Cook the tortellini in portions for about 3 minutes. Arrange on plates and serve with the tomato sauce. It’s quite a lot of work and it looks like a lot, but making less has usually proven to be a mistake, at least for us.