Rotolo with butternut, goat’s milk cheese and pine nuts

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C. Arrange the butternut cubes in a roasting tin and sprinkle the garlic, nutmeg, cinnamon and brown sugar on top. Lastly, drizzle with a little olive oil and use your hands to mix everything thoroughly. Spread the butternut cubes in a single layer. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and roast for 30-45 minutes or until soft.

2 Place the butternut in a mixing bowl and reserve the cooking liquid. Add the goat’s milk cheese, half the Parmesan cheese and the beaten eggs and mix.

3 Roll out the fresh pasta in a rectangle of about 2mm in thickness. One of the short sides should be closest to you. Place the pasta rectangle on two large, clean dishcloths or on a muslin cloth. Spread the butternut mixture over the pasta but leave an edge of about 2cm open on the side furthest from you. Roll up the pasta and filling with the help of the dishcloths or muslin cloth – in the same way as you would roll up a Swiss roll.

4 Tie the two ends closed with string – it should now look like a Christmas cracker. Place the pasta roll in an ovenproof dish and fill it with boiling water so that two thirds of the pasta roll is covered. Cover the dish and heat to boiling point. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Turn the pasta roll over and simmer for another 40 minutes. The pasta roll is cooked when it is firm to the touch. Leave it to stand until cool and then fold it open.

Tip: Don’t wait until the pasta roll is ice cold before removing the dishcloths as it will then stick to the cloth. (It is possible to make this dish the day before. Once you reach the end of step 4, store the pasta roll in the refrigerator – it should be greased with olive oil to prevent it from drying out.)

5 Make sage butter by heating the butter, sage and pine nuts together until the butter has melted. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper.

6 Cut the pasta roll into 2cm slices and arrange these on a greased baking tray. Place under a preheated grill until warmed through and the ends start to brown. Spoon the hot, seasoned butter over the pasta slices and, lastly, garnish with the remaining Parmesan cheese.

Tip: The wider the pasta rectangle, the larger the roll will be so bear the size of your oven dish in mind when you roll out the dough. The dough can also be divided into two pieces if you prefer to form smaller rolls rather than one large roll.

Fresh pasta

Makes: 500g

Preparation time: 5 minutes

• 500ml (240g) cake flour
• 5ml salt
• 3 extra-large eggs
• 30ml oil
• 15ml water

1 Sift the flour and salt together. Make a hollow in the middle and add the eggs, oil and water. Mix sufficiently to allow an elastic dough to form. Cover with clingfilm and allow to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before use.