Pumpkin and Mascarpone Tortellini with Sage butter sauce

I was inspired to make this after I saw a review where someone (I can't remember which blog sorry) had this in a restaurant.

Firstly I roasted a butternut. Donna Hay had a great tip for roasting one on her show, cut it in half and scoop out the seeds then drizzle with olive oil and roast. I chose to season mine with cinnamon and allspice. Once soft, scoop out the middle and puree. I always seem to cut myself when peeling pumpkins so I loved this suggestion. When I have roast pumpkin I leave the skin on, its delicious and good for you!

I made my pasta dough with half spelt flour and half wholemeal flour. The pumpkin filling I made by combining one cup of my pumpkin puree with one cup of marscapone, 25g of freshly grated parmesan and plenty of seasoning.

It was lots of fun making the tortellini because my three year old daughter Evie helped me. She was really good - she watched very closely as I showed her how to make them and then did it all by herself and after a making a couple perfected it. I couldn't believe it, she honestly made about a third of the tortellini. And when I cooked them only one tortellini burst so she did a good job (it was probably mine that burst :P).

To go with the tortellini I toasted some almonds in olive oil and tossed with some steamed green beans along with a dressing of red wine vinegar and lemon juice. I also cut tomatoes in half and lined with basil leaves before popping in a piece of buffalo style mozzarella cheese (was only 10% buffalo milk), also a Donna Hay technique! I then baked these until soft and gooey. For the butter sauce I just heated butter until sizzling and then added the sage leaves.

I really enjoyed this meal, it was great to make and delicious to eat. The filling was so soft and flavoursome, it went perfectly with crispy sage leaves. My hubby said it was a little oily for him with the sauce and cheeses but I thought it was great. I will be making this again!