Cappellacci di zucca ferraresi

The filling

Start here: the pumpkin needs two hours in the oven. Make the dough while it bakes.

1. 1Halve and clean the pumpkin

   Start
   Hands-on 10 minOfficial text

   Wash and dry the pumpkin, cut it in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and the visible strings.

   Check No seeds or loose strings left in the hollow.

   Tip Our guide: heat the oven to 160 °C, conventional heat, while you do this. Scrape the hollow clean with the metal spoon.

2. 2Bake the halves

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   Cooking 2 h to 2 h 20 minTemp 160 °COfficial textStart 2 h timer

   Lay the halves on a baking tray and bake them for 120–140 minutes at 160 °C–200 °C.

   Check A spoon goes through the flesh to the skin with no resistance, and the cut surface looks dry, not wet.

   Tip Our guide: 160 °C, the bottom of the range, with the halves cut side up on baking paper, so a home-sized squash dries for the whole time without scorching. If the edges darken before the end, cover them loosely with foil.

   Tip Baking dries the flesh: a wet filling softens the pasta, which tears and empties in the water.

3. 3Let the halves cool

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   Rest 30 minOfficial textStart 30 min timer

   When they are done, set the halves on the work surface and leave them to cool.

   Check Cool enough to hold in your hand.

   Tip Our guide: about 30 minutes, until you can hold them; then scoop and mix the filling straight away, so it goes into the fridge soon.

4. 4Scoop and sieve the pulp

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   Hands-on 10 minOfficial text

   Scoop the pulp out into a bowl and, if needed, pass it through a sieve to remove any strings left.

   Check A smooth purée with no strings.

   Tip Our guide: weigh out 400 g, the specification's dose for 1 kg of cappellacci.

5. 5Mix the filling

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   Hands-on 5 minOfficial text

   Mix the pulp with the grated cheese, the nutmeg, the breadcrumbs and, if you like, sugar.

   Check Smooth and compact: a spoonful holds its shape on a plate.

   Tip The specification lists no salt: the cheese seasons it. Our guide: taste it, and add a little sugar only if the pumpkin tastes bland.

   Tip Our guide: if it is too soft to hold its shape, stir in up to 20 g more breadcrumbs, the specification's tolerance.

6. 6Chill the filling

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   Rest 1 h 15 min to 1 h 30 minTemp 4 °CStart 1 h 15 min timer

   Spread the filling about 2 cm deep in the shallow container, cover it and chill it in the fridge until it is cold right through.

   Check Cold to the touch right through, and firm.

   Tip The filling is cooked pumpkin and cheese: from the oven to the pot it should spend no more than 2 hours in all out of the fridge, counting cooling, mixing and shaping. A shallow layer cools fast.

   Tip A cold filling is easier to portion and keeps its shape on the pasta. If the middle still feels cool rather than cold, give it 15 minutes more. Made the day before, it keeps covered in the fridge overnight: the easy way.

The pasta

Make it while the pumpkin bakes.

1. 7Make the dough

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   Hands-on 15 minOfficial text

   Work the flours and the eggs together until the dough is even.

   Check Smooth and even in colour, with no dry crumbs; firm and no longer sticky.

   Tip The specification uses a mixer. Our guide by hand: heap the two flours on the board, break the eggs into a well in the middle, beat them with a fork and draw in the flour little by little, then knead for about 10 minutes.

   Tip No salt, oil or water: the specification's pasta is flour and eggs only. It is a soft dough. Our guide: if it is still sticky after 5 minutes of kneading, work in more tipo 00 flour a spoonful at a time, up to 50 g, the specification's tolerance; dust the board lightly if it sticks.

2. 8Rest the dough in the fridge

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   Rest 30 minOfficial textStart 30 min timer

   If you are not using the dough at once, rest it in the fridge, at 3 °C–4 °C, for 12 hours at most.

   Check Relaxed: pressed with a finger, the dent fills back slowly.

   Tip Our guide: wrap it in film and keep it in the fridge until the filling is cold, at least 30 minutes: a relaxed dough rolls out without shrinking back.

Shaping

1. 9Roll out the sheet

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   Hands-on 15–20 minOfficial text

   Roll the dough out by hand on a wooden board with a wooden rolling pin, or by machine, into a sheet 0.4 mm–0.7 mm thick.

   Check Even all over, and thin enough that the grain of the board shows faintly through it: about 0.6 mm.

   Tip Our guide: aim for about 0.6 mm. Work in four rounds: roll a quarter of the dough, cut, fill and fold it, and put the tray in the fridge before you roll the next. Keep the rest of the dough wrapped, so it does not dry.

2. 10Cut the squares

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   Hands-on 5 minOfficial text

   Cut the sheet into squares of 6.5 cm–9.5 cm a side, by hand with a pasta wheel.

   Check Squares of 9 cm, measured with the ruler.

   Tip Our guide: 9 cm squares give cappellacci about 5 cm across. Gather the scraps, knead them together, wrap them and roll them again.

3. 11Fill the squares

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   Hands-on 10 minOfficial text

   Put a portion of filling on each square.

   Check About 10 g, a heaped teaspoon, in the middle of each square, with a clean border all round.

   Tip Our guide: take out of the fridge only the filling for the squares in hand, about a quarter at a time, and keep the rest cold.

   Tip Keep the squares you are not filling covered with the cloth, so the pasta does not dry and refuse to seal.

4. 12Fold and join the corners

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   Hands-on 40–50 minOfficial text

   Fold each filled square into a triangle, then join its two sharp corners, so that the filling cannot escape and the pasta takes the typical cappellaccio shape.

   Check Sealed all round with no air inside; about 5 cm across and about 16 g, inside the specification's 4 cm–7 cm and 10 g–28 g. A batch makes about 55–60.

   Tip Our guide: press the edges of the triangle together from the filling outwards, pushing out the air. Then wrap it round your fingertip and pinch the two sharp corners at the ends of the long side together, one over the other.

   Tip If the edges no longer stick, touch them with a barely damp fingertip.

5. 13Chill each round

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   Hands-on 5 min

   Set the cappellacci on a floured tray or large plate, not touching, and put it in the fridge as soon as the round is shaped. Use a fresh tray for each of the four rounds.

   Check Each tray is in the fridge less than an hour after its first cappellaccio was shaped.

   Tip The specification has producers store them at 0 °C–4 °C, or frozen, within 60 minutes of making them, before the filling weeps, the pasta cracks and the orange filling turns grey-brown.

   Tip To keep them, freeze the trays instead, then bag the cappellacci, and cook them straight from the freezer.

Cooking and serving

1. 14Bring the water to the boil

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   Cooking 15 minHeat high

   Bring 5 l of water to the boil in the large pot and add the coarse salt. Warm the tureen with a little of the hot water, then pour it away.

   Check A full rolling boil, the salt dissolved.

2. 15Melt the butter with the sage

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   Hands-on 4 minHeat low

   Melt the butter in the small pan over a low heat with the sage leaves, until it foams and the leaves turn crisp. Keep it warm.

   Check Golden and foaming, the leaves crisp; the butter has not browned.

3. 16Cook the cappellacci

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   Cooking 10 minHeat medium, a gentle boilStart 5 min timer

   Take the trays from the fridge and cook the cappellacci in two batches at a gentle boil, until they rise to the surface: about 5 minutes for each batch.

   Check They float, and the pasta at the joined corners is tender when you bite one.

   Tip Two batches keep the water boiling; a gentle boil keeps them whole.

4. 17Dress them in the tureen

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   Hands-on 3 min

   Lift them out with the slotted spoon into the warm tureen, a layer at a time, spooning the sage butter and scattering the grated Parmigiano over each layer. Serve at once.

   Tip Our guide: leftovers go into the fridge, covered, in a shallow container, within 2 hours; eat them within 3 days, reheated until they reach 75 °C.