Caramelle Con Ricotta

~ Tandy

Using my lemon pasta to hold the filling, and balsamic tomatoes to finish the dish I created these caramelle con ricotta. This savoury pasta dish can be served as a primo piatti as one would do in Italy. Or double it up for a secondi course for hungry people.

Lemon Pasta Caramelle Con Ricotta And Balsamic Tomatoes
Lemon Pasta Caramelle With Roasted Garlic Ricotta And Balsamic Tomatoes
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Caramelle Con Ricotta ♥
Roasting Garlic

I would never consider turning my oven on just to roast some garlic. But, when I have something savoury in the oven, I use the opportunity to do so. I planned ahead to make my caramelle con ricotta so had all the ingredients to hand. However, even if I was not so well organized I could still have roasted the garlic as it will keep. I much prefer using roasted garlic over raw garlic as there is no harsh aftertaste. And, if I eat raw garlic I tend to have a very dry mouth overnight. The feeling of being dehydrated, with garlic breath is just not very appealing. Another way of getting rid of this affect it to pop the garlic clove into the microwave for 30 seconds. But, doing so does not result in the soft squishy, almost sweet taste one gets from roasting garlic.

Caramelle Con Ricotta

Caramelle is the Italian word for sweets, or candy as my American readers will call the treat. The name of the pasta comes from the shape. To make caramelle you need to use fresh pasta. You roll out sheets as thin as possible – I go to number 7 on my pasta roller. And for reference, it is a KitchenAid roller which goes up to number 8. From the flat sheets you will need to cut rectangles of 8cm x 5cm. A filling is then placed in the middle of the pasta. Once folded lengthwise over the filling, the ends are twisted. What you now have is a filled pasta resembling a wrapped sweet. Hence the name caramelle. I used my roasted garlic and soft ricotta to make my caramelle con ricotta.

Take a look at this inspiring recipe for ♥ Caramelle Con Ricotta ♥ from Lavender and Lime #LavenderAndLime Share on X

Click on the links for conversions and notes.
Print Recipe
No ratings yet

Caramelle Con Ricotta

These make for a great appetizer
Recipe Category: Italian
Makes enough for: 2 people
All Rights Reserved: An original recipe from Lavender and Lime

Ingredients

for the balsamic tomatoes:

  • 5 mls olive oil
  • 100 g baby tomatoes, cut in half
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
  • 5 mls balsamic vinegar

for the roasted garlic:

  • 5 cloves garlic

for the filling:

  • 150 g ricotta
  • 5 g mint leaves
  • 1 lemon, zest only (reserve the lemon for the pasta)

for the pasta:

  • 100 g 00 flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 1 egg
  • ½ lemon, juice only
  • 1 small pinch salt

for the caramelle:

  • water in a spray bottle
  • semolina for the pasta
  • water for boiling
  • 10 mls fine salt (or to taste)

Method

for the balsamic tomatoes:

  • Preheat the oven to 200° Celsius
  • Place the oil into a lidded, oven proof and stove top proof pan, and heat over a medium temperature
  • Add the tomatoes, season generously and cook for 5 minutes
  • Add the vinegar, place the lid on the pan, place into the oven and cook for 30 minutes *
  • Remove the lid and cook for a further 10 minutes
  • Remove from the oven and set aside

for the roasted garlic:

  • * Place the garlic into a small ovenproof dish and place into the oven
  • After 20 minutes of roasting, remove from the oven and allow to cool enough to handle
  • Peel the garlic cloves and set aside

for the filling:

  • Place the ricotta into a blender and add the garlic cloves, mint leaves and lemon zest
  • Season to taste then blitz
  • Place into the fridge while you make your pasta

for the pasta:

  • Place the flour, eggs, juice and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer
  • Using a dough hook, bring the dough together, then knead for 10 minutes
  • Transfer the pasta to a sheet of cling film wrap tightly and place into the fridge for at least 30 minutes
  • Remove from the fridge, lightly dust with flour and run the dough through your pasta roller until as thin as possible

for the caramelle:

  • Cut 8cm x 5cm rectangles from the pasta sheets
  • Remove the ricotta filling from the fridge and place half a teaspoon of mixture in the centre of each piece of pasta
  • Spritz with water and then fold over lengthwise to enclose the filling
  • Twist the ends to resemble wrapped sweets, and place onto a baking tray that is heavily dusted with semolina
  • Once they are all done, place the pasta into the fridge until needed
  • When you are ready to eat, bring a large pot of water to the boil
  • When the water is boiling add enough salt so that you can taste it
  • Carefully drop the pasta into the water and cook for 2 minutes
  • While the are cooking, heat a large frying pan over a medium temperature
  • Add the tomatoes to heat them up
  • Scoop the caramelle out of the water, and drop them into the frying pan, toss to combine and serve straight away
See the links below for blog posts I published on August 26:

Lavender and Lime Signature

Top of Page

Published by Tandy

I am passionate about using regional, seasonable and sustainable produce when I cook. I live in Gordons Bay with my husband and dogs. We visit new places locally and overseas as often as we can to experience the food of the area. Follow along on our adventures!

20 thoughts on “Caramelle Con Ricotta”

  3. I am laughing reading your description – when your post arrived an hour back I read the ‘title’ and did think it was for a dessert 🙂 ! As you know I am a wee bit slow with these ! Instead, I am reading a very interesting and ‘good-looking’ pasta recipe AND learning I can roast garlic ‘early’ . . . just as well I came back to read!

    Reply

I would ♥ to hear from you (comments will be visible when I reply)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.