How to Make Homemade Triangoli Pasta
This delicious spinach and ricotta triangoli with lemon butter and sage is surprisingly easy to make. Once you have shaped the pasta, the whole dish takes minutes to come together with this serving suggestion of lemon butter and sage.
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 80 g baby spinach
- 20 g fresh basil leaves
- 250 g full-fat ricotta
- 30 g Parmesan freshly grated
- ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the triangoli pasta:
- Semolina flour for dusting
- 1 x fresh pasta dough
- 00 flour for dusting
For the lemon butter and crispy sage:
- 120 g unsalted butter diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Handful of sage leaves
- Juice of ½ lemon
To serve:
- Freshly grated Parmesan
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
To make the triangoli filled with spinach and ricotta:
- While the dough rests, make the filling: bring a large pan of water to the boil and prepare a bowl of iced water. Add the spinach and basil to the pan and blanch for about 30 seconds. Remove from the pan and place straight into the bowl of icy water (this stops it from cooking and will help keep the leaves a beautiful vibrant green colour). Leave to cool for a few minutes in the ice water.
- Once cool, squeeze out as much of the liquid as you can then place on a chopping board. Finely chop and tip into a large mixing bowl. Add the ricotta, Parmesan and nutmeg. Mix well then season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Spoon into a piping bag or a sandwich bag that you can snip the corner off.
- Lightly dust a couple of large baking sheets and your work surface with semolina flour.
- Split your dough in four and roll out each ball of dough into long sheets, I tend to do to the second to last thinness level on my pasta machine.
- Place onto your work surface and, using a dough cutter, knife, or ravioli stamp, cut out roughly 7 cm squares. Place the squares onto your prepared trays as you go.
- Pipe about a teaspoon of the spinach and ricotta filling onto each square, aiming for just below where you will fold the pasta in half to make triangles.
- To shape the triangoli: working one square at a time, lift one corner over the top of the filling to meet the opposite corner, then seal along the edges with your fingers, pressing out any air so the filling is tightly contained. If your dough feels dry at all, you can wet a fingertip and brush the edge to help seal. Set back onto the baking tray. Repeat with the remaining squares of pasta.
- Once you have shaped all the pasta, bring a large pan of generously salted water to the boil.
To make the lemon butter & sage sauce:
- Meanwhile, make the crispy sage: add the oil to a shallow, wide-bottomed pan set over a medium heat. Once hot, add the sage leaves and cook for about 3 minutes - or until crispy. Remove from the pan and place onto a sheet of kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil.
- Next, make the lemon butter: add the butter to the same pan and place over a low heat. Allow to melt slowly.
- Add the triangoli to the pan of boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- As soon as the butter has melted, add small splashes of the pasta water, stirring vigorously to emulsify into a smooth, buttery sauce. Add a generous squeeze of lemon juice, then lift out the cooked triangoli using a slotted spoon and add to the butter. Toss gently to coat in the sauce.
- Spoon into bowls, garnish with crispy sage leaves and serve straight away with freshly grated Parmesan and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
Notes
Scroll up for a step by step guide on how to form triangoli.
To store: the filling can be made in advance, left to cool completely and be kept covered and chilled overnight. The shaped triangoli are best cooked on the same day (cover and chill if making more than 1 hour ahead and cook within 24 hours) or frozen. The finished dish is best served straight away.
To reheat: this is one of those dishes that is best served straight away and doesn’t reheat particularly well. However, as long as you have prepped the triangoli in advance, it literally takes minutes to cook! If you are cooking the triangoli from frozen, they will take slightly longer - but watch closely so they don’t overcook.
To freeze: to freeze the triangoli, open freeze on a tray for 20 minutes, then transfer to a sealed container or freezer bag for up to 3 months. Cook straight from frozen.
Pasta water: get into the habit of saving the pasta water whenever you cook pasta. A few splashes will transform your sauces and take your pasta dishes to the next level.
Texture: The crispy sage leaves add a delicious herby flavour and crisp texture. For extra crunch, scatter with toasted nuts. Pine nuts, walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts all work well.
Serving suggestions: this is a delicious, comforting meal all on its own. However, it is also lovely with garlic bread to mop up all the wonderful sauce and/or a fresh salad on the side.
Other sauces: the flavours in spinach and ricotta triangoli pasta works well with a host of sauces. A rich tomato sauce works really well or you can go for a drizzle of homemade basil pesto.