MasterChef Leandro Panza was 13 when he started down the path that would lead to him becoming a commercial chef.
Pasta dough
500g organic flour
10ml extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of salt
200g organic eggs
Nettle puree
1 bunch of stinging nettles, picked (use gloves)
1 tsp bicarb soda
4 shallots, finely sliced
20g unsalted butter
100ml cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Scallop filling
500g Hervey Bay scallop meat
¼ bunch chives, chopped
30g chopped flat leaf parsley
80ml cream
Salt
Black winter truffl e sauce
1 shallot, finely chopped
20g butter
50ml black truffle juice** (or vegetable stock)
60ml cream
60g Black winter truffle, peeled and finely chopped*
Pinch of chopped parsley chives
Salt and pepper
20 extra nettle leaves for frying
Pasta dough
Place fl our, oil, salt in food processor and slowly add the eggs until the dough forms. Bring together with hands, then wrap in cling film and rest for 3 hours.
Nettle puree
Blanch the nettles in a pot of water with a teaspoon of bicarb soda and a pinch of salt. Strain and refresh in ice water, then drain and squeeze out all the water. Saute the shallots with the butter until soft. Add the cream and bring to boil, then add the nettles. Cook for two minutes then puree in blender, season with salt and pepper to taste and leave aside.
Scallop filling
Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend to a mince texture. Put mixture in a piping bag and refrigerate.
Black truffle sauce
Soften the shallot in a small pot with the butter. Add the truffle juice and bring to a simmer, then add the cream. Add truffl e and cook for 4 minutes, then add pinch of chopped parsley and chives. Then blend until smooth and season to taste. Fry the extra nettle leaves until crisp.
To make the capelloni
Roll the pasta sheet to a thickness of about one millimetre. Place sheet on floured benchtop, brush top half with egg wash (one egg, beaten), then pipe the scallop filling onto pasta sheet where egg wash meets plain pasta. The idea is to make a line of walnutsized balls of fi lling with about a four-centimetre space in between each ball. Fold over the pasta sheet so the two ends meet and close. Then with a round cutter cut a half-moon shape around each lump of filling then bring the two ends together. You should end up with 16 cappelloni. Boil these for three minutes.
To serve
Warm the puree and the sauce. Place the puree on the plate and drizzle the sauce on top, then place the cappelloni (four a person) on top of that and garnish with the fried nettles. Serve.
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