I love making pasta from scratch. Some people find making bread relaxing and soothing… to me making pasta has the same effect. I love kneading the dough and creating all kinds of different shapes. I was going through my pasta tutorial page a couple of days ago and I realised I do have quite a few shapes documented. Mezzelune (half moon crescents) are among my favourite ravioli. They are very easy to make and they look cute. You can make them small or big (like in this case) and serve them in broth or with a sauce… as for the stuffing, I prefer them with a cheese and/or vegetable filling. Today’s mezzelune are stuffed with Taleggio cheese and walnuts: an easy, quick and delicious filling! I served them with a simple Parmigiano Reggiano fondue that lets the filling stand out, but they would taste great even with just melted butter. Enjoy!
Taleggio and Walnut Mezzelune with Parmigiano Reggiano Fondue
The recipe for a delicious Italian stuffed pasta: Taleggio and Walnut Mezzelune with Parmigiano Reggiano Fondue.
Ingredients
Mezzelune
- Egg pasta dough as per the instructions on How to make egg pasta dough for 4 people make 2 eggs and 200 gms – 7 oz. flour
Filling
- 375 gms – 0.8 lbs. Taleggio roughly chopped
- 100 gms – 3.5 oz. walnuts
- Milk optional
Parmigiano Reggiano Fondue
- 200 ml – 7 oz. cream
- 8 tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- Salt & Pepper
- 2 tbsp walnuts chopped
- Extra Parmigiano Reggiano thinly grated to serve (optional)
Instructions
Filling
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Keep your filling in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
Mezzelune
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Prepare the egg pasta dough as per the instructions on How to make egg pasta dough and then proceed to make and fill mezzelune as per the tutorial on How to make mezzelune.
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I made my mezzelune big this time: I used dough circles of 12.5 cm – 5 inches in diameter.
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While the mezzelune dry, you can prepare your sauce.
Parmigiano Reggiano Fondue
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Put the cream in a small saucepan and heat it up. Put the fire off before it boils and add the grated Parmigiano Reggiano, salt and pepper.
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Mix well until smooth. Do not worry if the sauce looks runny, it is ok as it will thicken while cooling.
Assembling
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Cook the mezzelune following the steps on “How to cook pasta al dente”. Only in this case you will not have a pre set cooking time. This will vary on the thickness of your mezzelune (it should take approximately a couple of minutes to cook if you have just made the pasta. If a number of hours have passed since you made the pasta then it would be slightly dry and could take between 8 to 10 minutes to cook). So, the best solution is to taste it! Remember, to check the sides, where your pasta is thicker. It does have to remain firm to be al dente.
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While the mezzelune are cooking, prepare your serving plates. Put 2 tbsp of Parmigiano Reggiano fondue at the bottom of each plate.
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When the pasta is cooked, drain it and divide it among the plates.
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Drizzle with the remaining fondue and top with the chopped walnuts.
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Serve warm with a sprinkle of thinly grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
Lily (A Rhubarb Rhapsody) says
Delicious! Creamy, cheesy pasta is the perfect comfort food for this wintery weather.
J @ Semplicemente ... J says
Another great recipe Manu! Brava!