There’s a new feta pasta in town! These delicate pasta parcels are stuffed with feta, ricotta, and caramelized leeks, and are swimming in unctuous brown butter, toasty pine nuts, and herbs. Scarpinocc stems from the word scarpa, which means shoe, as these shapes are meant to resemble the italian wooden clogs of yore. Traditionally they are stuffed with a taleggio and breadcrumb mixture, but I’ve opted for a modern mediterranean filling instead.
Tips:
- If you are attempting a stuffed pasta, I am assuming you have tried rolling basic pasta before and therefore my instructions for mixing and rolling dough don’t have pictures attached. If you are new to pasta, please check out the links I have included for step by step picture instructions on how to roll pasta dough! I have included pictures for shaping the scarpinocc.
- A piping bag makes this whole process 10x easier, and you can buy a pack of 100 for about $5.
Serves 3
Ingredients
Pasta dough
- 200 g 00 flour
- 50 g semolina flour
- 135 g eggs (about 2 whole + 1-2 yolks)
Pasta filling
- Olive oil
- 2 leeks, tops removed, thoroughly washed, and cut into rings
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 4 oz feta (sheep’s milk if you can find it)
- ¼ cup ricotta
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 egg
Pasta sauce
- 6 tbsp butter
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp chopped oregano
- Chili flakes
- ½ cup parsley
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- A splash of reserved pasta water
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Make the dough (directions from Pasta Social Club)
- Weigh and combine flour(s) in a medium-large mixing bowl.
- Weigh the eggs and whisk together
- Make a wide well with your fist in the center of the flour and add the liquid.
- Using a fork, gradually incorporate the flour into the well in a circular motion until a thick, smooth, custard-like batter forms.
- When it’s too thick to continue with the fork, cut the remaining flour into the center of the well with a bench scraper or your hands as consistently as possible and transfer everything to a flat surface.
- Knead the dough vigorously until smooth, firm, and well-combined, about 10 minutes. (You may need a small amount of water if the dough is too dry or a dusting of flour if it is at all sticky; add both with your fingertips on any dry or wet patches.)
- Wrap the dough tightly in plastic and allow it to rest for at least 30 minutes and up to several hours at room temperature. If storing overnight, refrigerate and bring back up to room temperature before use.
- Check out a video here.
Make the filling
- Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add olive oil to coat the pan and then the leeks. Cook until soft, browned, and on the way to caramelized, about 15-20 minutes. Let cool.
- Add the cooled leeks, feta, lemon zest, and ricotta to a food processor and blend until smooth. Taste and add salt and pepper. The feta has a decent amount of salt in it, but you want your pasta filling to be on the verge of salty.
- Add the egg and blend again until smooth.
- Place the filling in a piping bag and put in the fridge to set slightly. If you don’t have a piping bag, put the filling in a bowl in the fridge.
Shape the pasta
*if you are new to pasta, check out this serious eats article with step by step instructions on how to roll pasta sheets.
- Cut your dough into thirds and remove ⅓. Immediately wrap the rest of the dough back in plastic wrap.
- Flatten the dough piece and run it through the widest setting on your pasta machine.
- Fold the dough into a letter shape and run it again through the widest setting. Repeat one more time.
- Now your dough is ready to roll thin: roll the dough through the pasta machine over and over again, each time increasing the setting by 1. Roll until the sheet is about 1 mm in thickness, about setting 6 or 7 on an Atlas machine. You may need to flour your dough lightly throughout this process.
- Lay your pasta sheet on a lightly floured surface and cut into 2 x 2.5 inch squares.
- Use the piping bag to pipe a small line in the middle of the squares (see pictures). Leave about ¼ inch of dough on each side. If you don’t have a piping bag, use a spoon.
- Fold the dough over itself in thirds so that it forms a small tube and the seam is on the bottom.
- With your thumb and index finger, pinch the ends of the pasta.
- Use your thumb to create an indentation in the middle of the scarpinocc.
- Place completed scarpinocc on a floured baking sheet.
- Continue this process until all the pasta is filled.
Make the sauce
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Head a pan over medium and add the pine nuts. Let sit in the dry pan for about 45 seconds, stirring occasionally.
- Add the butter and let melt.
- Add the lemon zest and oregano, chili flakes, along with a good amount of black pepper.
- Cook, stirring regularly, until the butter starts to brown.
- Remove from heat.
Assembly
- Cook the pasta for about 1-3 minutes. Drain, reserving some pasta cooking liquid.
- Add the pasta to the brown butter and turn the heat to low.
- Add the parmesan, lemon juice, and parsley and stir to combine. Add a splash of reserved pasta water and stir to combine. Add salt, taste, adjust seasoning, and remove from heat.
- Serve with extra parm on top.