Sweet Potato Tortellini with Hazelnut Sauce

Summer 2028. The cookbook project begins in earnest. I sit at the kitchen table with Isabella (who volunteered to type, because Isabella types ninety words a minute and I type thirty and the efficiency gap is the gap between a nurse's fingers and a baker's fingers, and the nurse's fingers are faster on a keyboard while the baker's fingers are faster on dough). I dictate. Isabella types. The recipes flow: Rosa's flour tortillas first (always first), then the chile colorado, then the caldo de res, then the enchiladas, then the tamales, then the sixty other recipes that form Rosa's core repertoire. The dictating is the remembering, and the remembering is the dictating, and both are harder than I expected because the recipes are body knowledge — "a handful of," "until it looks right," "knead until it feels like an earlobe" — and body knowledge doesn't translate easily into measurements and instructions. But Isabella is patient and I am stubborn and together we wrestle Rosa's genius into words, one recipe at a time.

Of all seventy-some recipes Isabella and I wrestled onto the page that summer, the ones that fought us hardest were the ones that lived entirely in the hands — the pinch of dough, the fold, the seal pressed closed by feel. This sweet potato tortellini reminds me of that same stubborn magic: you can write down every measurement, but the moment you start shaping the little parcels, your fingers have to learn what “right” feels like all on their own. Rosa would have understood. She would have said, “Just keep folding until they look like they want to be eaten.”

Prep Time: 1 hour | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

For the filling:

1 large sweet potato (about 12 ounces), peeled and cubed
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

For the pasta dough:

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

For the hazelnut sauce:

1/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Prepare the filling. Boil the sweet potato cubes in salted water until tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Drain well and mash until smooth. Stir in the ricotta, Parmesan, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Let cool completely before filling the tortellini.
Make the pasta dough. Mound the flour on a clean surface and make a well in the center. Add the eggs, olive oil, and salt to the well. Using a fork, gradually incorporate the flour into the wet ingredients until a shaggy dough forms. Knead by hand for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic — it should feel like an earlobe when pressed. Wrap in plastic and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Roll and cut the dough. Divide the dough into four portions. Working with one portion at a time (keep the rest covered), roll it out on a floured surface until very thin, about 1/16 inch. Cut into 3-inch rounds using a biscuit cutter or glass.
Shape the tortellini. Place about 1 teaspoon of filling in the center of each round. Fold the dough over into a half-moon and press the edges firmly to seal. Bring the two pointed ends together around your fingertip, overlapping them slightly, and press to seal. Place finished tortellini on a lightly floured baking sheet.
Cook the tortellini. Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle boil. Cook the tortellini in batches for 3 to 4 minutes, until they float and the pasta is tender. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve about 1/4 cup of the pasta water.
Make the hazelnut sauce. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the sage and garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Add the white wine and let it reduce by half, about 2 minutes. Toss in the hazelnuts and stir to coat.
Combine and serve. Add the cooked tortellini to the skillet and toss gently, adding a splash of pasta water if needed to loosen the sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Divide among plates and top with grated Parmesan.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sweet Potato Tortellini with Hazelnut Sauce — When Body Knowledge Becomes Words on a Page