Once again we’re on a quest to learn how to make new types of pasta, and this time we tried probably one of the most fun shapes out there. In Italian, caramelle means “candy”, and these filled pasta are shaped exactly like wrapped mints or caramels. We were a little nervous when we started out that these would be difficult to make, but it turns out to be pretty easy to get this technique down. And since we wanted the shape of the pasta to take center stage, we made a simple filling for the inside and a sauce on top that lets the caramelle shine through. Now let us show you how to make this unusual pasta for yourself!
You’ll need:
- 00 flour
- 5 eggs
- Semolina flour
- Ricotta cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- Pecorino Romano cheese
- Parsley
- A shallot
- An onion
- Half a stick of butter
- Olive oil
You’ll first want to make the filling: warm a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat, then finely chop your shallot and add it to the pan. Cook for about 8 minutes, until the shallot is softened but not browned, and add in a large handful of chopped parsley leaves. Stir these greens around just until they’re wilted, then take the pan off the heat.
In a bowl stir together 1 1/2 cups of ricotta, 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan, and 1/3 cup of grated pecorino. Add in the parsley and shallot and mix together, then cover your bowl and refrigerate this filling.
Now for your pasta dough, follow the first three steps here, except you’re only going to roll the pasta out to a 5 setting, and you’re going to send it through twice at that setting. Lay these pasta sheets down on parchment paper dusted with 00 flour, and dust the tops of each sheet with 00 flour as well. Then take one sheet at a time and use a pasta cutter to slice into rectangles that are 3 1/2 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide. Scoop your filling into a gallon-sized zipper bag, seal it closed, push all the filling to the bottom of the bag, and cut a 1/2-inch hole in one of the bottom corners. Now you can pipe filling onto each rectangle – make sure the filling is about 1/2 inch from the top and an inch from either side, so it should be about half as wide as each rectangle.
Use a spray bottle to spritz each rectangle with water, then take one and roll it all the way up over the filling starting from the top.
Once it’s fully rolled up, take your two index fingers and press down on either side of the filling …
… so that each piece looks like this:
Now take your thumbs and index fingers and pinch the top and bottom together where you pressed down, making sure not to pinch too hard or the pasta will break open.
And each piece should look like this:
Repeat this process for each rectangle, and each sheet of pasta. Lay your caramelle on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper that you’ve sprinkled with semolina flour, then when you’ve shaped all your pasta add some extra semolina on top of all the caramelle. Let them chill for an hour in the fridge to firm up.
When you’re ready to cook the caramelle, you can start by chopping your onion. In a large pan warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and add in the onion, plus some salt. Gently stir the onion around every 30 seconds or so and cook for at least 15 minutes, until it’s well browned but not burned.
While the onion is cooking, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in half your caramelle and bring the heat down so the water is at a simmer, then cook the pasta for 2-3 minutes, until it’s tender at the point where you pinched it. Add your half stick of butter to the pan with the onions, then use a spider strainer to transfer the pasta to the pan and turn the heat down to low. Cook the remaining caramelle and add that to the pan as well, then gently stir everything together so the sauce and onions coat each piece of pasta.
Now you can serve up the caramelle, topped with extra chopped parsley and some grated Parmesan.
We thought these caramelle looked great on a plate, and they were also fun to bite into and taste the hunk of cheese and herbs inside. And they turned out to be not at all hard to make, so you can craft up this impressive pasta without breaking a sweat. We liked the simple filling and simple sauce as a way to showcase the caramelle’s shape and structure, and we took a lot of pride in making this cool and unusual pasta. We might not have thought on our own to make caramelle for ourselves, but we’re glad we got the chance to get really creative and eat something delicious.