INGREDIENTS: Makes about 50 agnolotti to serve 8
	1 qt/1 liter/16 fl oz beef or veal stock
	1 bottle (750 ml) sparkling, red wine
	1-2 tablespoons of chopped chives (for decoration)
	for the cheese and herb filling
	1/2 lb/250 g fresh ricotta
	1/2 cup/60 g/2 oz grated Parmesan
	a medium bunch of chives, chopped
	1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
	salt and pepper
	1 egg, beaten to mix

	for the pasta dough
	3 cups/375 g/12 oz flour, more if needed
	2 eggs
	1/2 cup/125 ml/4 fl oz dry, white wine
	1 teaspoon salt
	equipment needed
	pasta rolling machine
	2-inch/5-cm cookie cutter

   
1. Make filling for the pasta dough: beat ricotta until soft, then stir in the Parmesan, chives, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Taste, adjust seasoning, and stir in the beaten egg.

2. Make the pasta dough (see below) and divide it in 4 pieces. Cover them with a cloth. Knead each piece by working it through the pasta machine 5-7 times. When a piece is smooth and elastic, tighten the rollers one notch and feed it through again. Continue rolling, tightening the rollers one notch each time, ending with the narrowest setting. If the dough starts to stick, flour it lightly.

3. Lay the strip of dough on a lightly floured work surface, brush it lightly with water and cut the strip across in half. Using a teaspoon, arrange small mounds of cheese filling on one half of the dough, spacing them 2 inches/5 cm apart and leaving a 1/2 -inch/1.25-cm border. Lay the other strip of dough evenly over the filling. With your fingers, press down between the mounds of filling to seal the dough, gently pushing out any pockets of air. Stamp out filled rounds of dough, using the cookie cutter, and transfer them to a floured cloth to dry. Continue, using the remaining dough and filling. Leave the agnolotti 1-2 hours to dry.The agnolotti packages can be shaped up to 2 days ahead as cheese filling does not spoil like meat or fish. Keep the packages in the refrigerator, loosely covered with a cloth. They can also be frozen.

4. Shortly before serving, bring the stock and wine to a boil in a wide, shallow pan. Add half the agnolotti, bring just back to a simmer and cook them until al dente, 10-12 minutes. Skim any surface froth. Transfer them to warm soup bowls with a draining spoon and keep warm. Simmer and drain the remaining agnolotti – they will be slightly discolored by the wine, but full of flavour. Bring the broth to a rolling boil, taste and adjust the seasoning and spoon it over the agnolotti. Serve at once, very hot.

White Wine Pasta Dough
Serves 4 as a main course
3 cups/375 g/12 oz flour, more if needed
2 eggs
1/2 cup/125 ml/4 fl oz dry white wine
1 teaspoon salt
pasta rolling machine

1. Sift the flour on to a work surface and make a well in the center. Add the eggs to the well with the wine and salt and work them together with your fingers until well mixed. Gradually draw in the flour with the fingers of both hands to make crumbs. Continue working until the crumbs are sticky, then press the dough together in a ball. If the dough is sticky, work in more flour; it should be so stiff that kneading it is hard work.

2. I like to use the rolling machine to knead as well as roll the dough: Divide the dough in 2-3 pieces and cover all but one with a cloth. Set the machine at its widest setting and work the dough through it. Fold the dough in two or three and continue working through the machine until the dough is satin-smooth and elastic, 5-7 times, dusting with flour if it seems sticky. Don’t hesitate to work in extra flour as the dough should be very stiff.

3. When very smooth, start reducing the machine settings until the dough is rolled to a strip the thickness of a file folder, almost the thinnest setting. Continue with the remaining dough and use as directed in the individual recipe. Fresh pasta dough dries quickly, so it should be cut or shaped at once. Keep strips covered with a cloth while working with the remaining dough.

Quick Fix
To make the dough in a food processor: Work the flour, eggs, and salt to fine crumbs, about 30 seconds. Pour in the wine with the blades turning and continue working until the dough forms quite coarse crumbs, 1-2 minutes. Turn the crumbs onto a board and press them into a ball. Knead the dough in the pasta machine as directed.

What Wine:
To Cook: Lambrusco, a grapy, sparkling red produced in oceanic quantities around Italy's Emilia-Romagna province, adds fizz to the broth for these pasta packages, particularly when added just before serving. A similar American wine, once popular as "cold duck", but now more commonly marketed as sparkling Burgundy can still be found, but less easily than lambrusco.

To Drink: The sparkling character of lambrusco is said to be helpful in digesting the rich fare so appreciated by the people of this region. You may find it too sweet for your palate so a still red from Emilia-Romagna, or at any rate a red based on the sangiovese grape, may have more appeal.

This Recipe of the Month selection comes from Anne Willan's newest release: Anne Willan Cooking With Wine (2001) published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc. in association with COPIA: American Center for Wine, Food, and the Arts.