making filled italian pasta

the shape of your pasta parcels realy comes down to your own personal preference: they can be square, round rectangulare, cresent, oval, triangular, diamond-shaped or even shaped like hats, rings or monybags. Their name vary according to the type of filling, their region of orgion and their size. such that it would be almost impossible to classify all the filled pastas avalible around Italy. Sometimes it seems to me that some of the shapes where invented by mothers-in-law purly to make life difficult for for the wives of their sons!

When making any filled pasta the dough must must be as thin and elastic as possible. Roll out the pasta dough into very thin sheets, then place the filling on the pasta in evenly spaced mounds. Brush the exposed edges of the pasta with a little water or beaten egg to help it stick together. Use your your fingers to gently push out any air around the filling (air bubbles will expand during cooking and can cause the pasta parcels to explode) then seal all the edges securely, lay the filled pasta on floured tea towels making sure they do not touch each other, and sprinkle lightly with more flour.