Tortelli di Coda alla...Tortelli di Coda alla Vaccinara con Spuma di Pecorino

Delicate handmade egg pasta pillows filled with rich, 12-hour braised oxtail, served over an airy Pecorino Romano foam and finished with cold-pressed celery leaf oil and bitter cocoa dust.

Ingredients

Cooking Instructions

1. 01

   Season oxtail generously with salt and sear in a heavy Dutch oven over high heat until deeply browned on all sides; remove and reserve.

2. 02

   In the same pot, sweat the diced onion, carrot, and celery until translucent. Deglaze with red wine, scraping fond from the base, and reduce by half.

3. 03

   Return oxtail to the Dutch oven, add crushed San Marzano tomatoes, cover tightly, and braise at 135°C (275°F) for 3.5 hours until meat falls effortlessly from the bone.

4. 04

   Shred oxtail meat finely, discarding bones and gristle. Reduce braising juices until glossy and glaze-like. Fold meat with 2 tablespoons of braising glaze and toasted pine nuts; chill completely to set.

5. 05

   Make pasta dough: mound 00 flour on a marble surface, create a well, and add egg yolks and whole egg. Knead for 10-12 minutes until elastic and smooth. Wrap tightly and rest at room temperature for 45 minutes.

6. 06

   Blanch celery leaves in boiling salted water for 10 seconds, shock in ice water, dry completely, and blend on high with grapeseed oil at 60°C for 5 minutes. Strain through a coffee filter to yield bright green celery oil.

7. 07

   Prepare the Pecorino foam: warm milk and cream to 75°C, whisk in grated Pecorino Romano until emulsified without boiling. Strain through a fine chinois into a culinary siphon, charge with two N2O chargers, and keep warm in a 55°C water bath.

8. 08

   Roll pasta dough to setting 8 (1mm thick). Cut into 7cm squares, deposit 12g of chilled oxtail filling onto each, brush edges lightly with water, fold into triangles, and crimp tips around your finger to form tortelli.

9. 09

   Cook tortelli in rolling salted water for 2.5 minutes. Gently transfer to a sauté pan with 50ml pasta water and cold butter, swirling vigorously to create a silky, emulsified coating.

10. 10

    To plate: dispense a pool of airy Pecorino foam in the center of shallow warm bowls. Arrange five glazed tortelli atop the foam, drizzle drops of vivid celery oil around, and finish with a discreet dusting of bitter cocoa powder.