SHF #42: Matcha Tortellini

March 29th:

Ooooo... this is my kind of event. I'm so excited to be doing another SHF, it makes me feel so creative. With the theme being 'Asian Sweet Invasion', I think I'll know my way around using some interesting Asian ingredients. The thing I have to decide on is what ingredient I want to use, and what traditional recipe do I want to play around with to make my new creation?

April 17th:

Yes! I've finally completed (well, semi-completed) my SHF recipe. It took me soooo long to decide on what I would make. I knew it would have to be something different, but not so different that no one in my family would touch it :P What would I make for the Asian Sweet Invasion? (see link: http://www.lapetiteboulangette.com/2008/03/shf-asian-sweet-invasion.html) I wanted to fuse two different types of cuisine, and I determined that Italian and Japanese were my best options. Although they are quite different in terms of style and ingredients, I knew that these two would work together beautifully. So... voila! I came up with Matcha Tortellini with Adzuki-Coconut Filling.

Matcha Tortellini

(Yields approximately 16 pieces of tortellini + some tasty scraps)

Ingredients:

- 1 egg, beaten

- 2 tbsp water

- 3 tbsp matcha powder

- 3 tbsp confectioner's sugar

- 1 cup flour

- 1 recipe of Adzuki-Coconut filling (recipe follows)

Method:

1. On a clean surface, mix together the flour, matcha and sugar until combined.

2. Make a well in the center and add in the egg and water.

3. Use your hands to combine the egg and flour until it forms a ball.

4. Form into a square, wrap in cling-wrap and let rest in the fridge for 30mins.

5. Place dough on a well-floured surface and roll-out until very thin (1/6th inch).

6. Use a 2 1/2 inch round, pastry-cutter to cut out pasta circles.

7. Fill each circle with 1 tsp of adzuki filling, moisten edge of circle with water and fold over into a semi-circle.

8. Press the pointed edges together and voila! You have tortellini that is ready to be boiled (or fried, and had with ice cream!)

Adzuki-Coconut Filling

Ingredients:

- 1 egg yolk

- 1/4 cup adzuki bean paste

- 1 heaping tbsp coconut cream

- 1 tsp sugar

- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Method:

1. Mix filling ingredients together until they are well combined. Use with matcha tortellini recipe!

I'm planning on frying these babies tonight. I'll post the photos when I'm done indulging in my Asian Creation! Until then...