Tortellini

Ingredients

• Tortellini
• 1-2 Eggs
• Cooking cream
• Cheese

Method

Bring salted water to a rolling boil — this is non-negotiable. The salt raises the boiling point slightly and seasons the pasta from the outside in. Use roughly 10 grams of salt per litre of water. While you wait, pour the cream into a large, heavy-based pan and warm it over medium heat; do not let it simmer or the fat will begin to separate. This is a cream-based dish, which means the cream is your sauce base, not a garnish.

Drop the tortellini into the boiling water and stir immediately to prevent sticking. Fresh or chilled tortellini will float to the surface and cook through within 2–3 minutes of floating. Test one: the pasta should yield to a fork but still have a faint firmness at the centre. Drain, reserving a small cup of the starchy cooking water.

Transfer the drained tortellini straight into the warm cream and fold gently to combine. Keep the heat at medium — this is where restraint matters. You're looking for the cream to thicken slightly as the starch from the pasta and the heat itself create a light emulsification; this takes 2–3 minutes of gentle folding. If the sauce looks thin, add a splash of the reserved pasta water, which contains the starch needed to bind everything.

Take the pan off the heat. Crack the eggs into a small bowl and beat them lightly with a pinch of salt, then pour them into the tortellini whilst folding continuously. The residual heat will cook the eggs to soft curds, creating a silky, carbonara-style coating rather than scrambled threads. Work quickly but without panic — the pasta stays hot long enough to gently set the egg.

Divide between warm bowls. Finish with cracked black pepper and, if the tortellini is plain, a small heap of finely grated Parmesan. Taste before adding salt; the pasta water and quick-preparation method mean you've already seasoned well.