By Weston Ludeke, executive chef at The Compound Restaurant

This is a spring-focused pasta ideal for the transition between cold and hot seasons. It can be dressed as is for an earthy, lighter pasta option, or it can be paired with a duck leg confit or late winter braise to make it more hearty. If sunchokes are a challenge to find, you can replace them with carrots or turnips, and you’ll find yourself enjoying the dish just the same. The pasta dough is versatile enough that any leftovers can be rolled into linguine or reserved to play with different shapes that interest you.

Make this dish on a day when you feel like hanging out in the kitchen for most of the afternoon. For the pasta, I recommend using a scale to measure ingredients by weight; if measuring by volume, you may find that you need to make light adjustments. If this is your first time making agnolotti, consider finding a video on YouTube that walks you through the steps of preparing the dough and forming the pasta.

Print Recipe

Sunchoke Agnolotti with Arugula Pesto

Ingredients

Pasta Dough

  • 290 grams (2 cups) Caputo flour or “00” chef’s flour
  • 280 grams (1 1/2 cups) semolina flour
  • 30 grams (2 tablespoons) water
  • 30 grams (2 tablespoons) extra-virgin olive oil
  • 5 whole eggs
  • 40 grams egg yolks (2 egg yolks)

Sunchoke Filling

  • 1 pound unpeeled sunchokes (or turnips), washed and sliced thin
  • 2 shallots, sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 2 ounces butter
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup vegetable stock
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
  • Salt, to taste

Arugula Pesto

  • 1/3 cup walnuts
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 pinch chile flakes
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 cups arugula
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • Salt, to taste

Instructions

Pasta Dough

  • Bring all ingredients together in a food processor, then turn onto a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until a smooth dough is formed. Wrap in plastic wrap or put in a ziplock bag; let rest for at least 2 hours before rolling dough.

Sunchoke Filling

  • In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, sweat shallots and garlic in butter. Add sunchokes and cook until soft and tender, about 10 minutes. Whisk in heavy cream and vegetable stock, and simmer for 10–15 minutes, until reduced by half.
  • Use an immersion blender to puree mixture, or transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. Season to taste. Divide the puree: Cover half of the puree and chill until ready for plating. For the pasta filling, in a small bowl, mix half of the puree with the parmesan and mascarpone.

Arugula Pesto

  • In food processor, combine walnuts, garlic, chile flakes, lemon zest, and olive oil; blend to form a coarse paste. Add arugula and vegetable oil; process until smooth. Salt to taste, transfer to a bowl, and cover until ready to use.

Making the Agnolotti

  • First, prepare the dough. To roll out by hand, place the dough on a large, lightly floured surface, and use a rolling pin to create a very thin sheet, around 1/16 inch thick. A pasta machine makes a consistent, thin sheet.
  • Next, cut the dough. Using a pasta cutter or sharp knife, cut dough into long rectangles, about 3–4 inches wide, depending on how big you want your agnolotti. Spoon small amounts of the sunchoke filling onto each sheet, spacing the spoonfuls of filling about 1–1 1/2 inches apart. Be careful not to overfill.
  • To form the agnolotti, fold the dough over the filling and gently press the long edge to seal, making sure there’s no air inside. If desired, use a fork to crimp the sealed edge. Then pinch alongside the filling, pressing to seal each section. Cut through each section with a pasta wheel or knife, trimming any excess dough to make a neat edge, and use your fingers or a fork to crimp the edges.

Assembly

  • Bring reserved puree to room temperature. In a stockpot, bring salted water to a boil.
  • While waiting for water to boil, arrange reserved puree on the side of the plate and give it a swoosh motion to create a well.
  • When the water reaches a boil, add the agnolotti and boil for 2–3 minutes, or until they float to the surface and are tender. Use a slotted spoon to remove agnolotti from stockpot, and immediately toss with enough pesto to coat.
  • Plate the agnolotti on the prepared plates along the puree, and top with some more pesto, as you like. I like to garnish with toasted walnuts, some whole fresh arugula or watercress, a spritz of lemon juice, some shaved parmesan cheese, and olive oil.

In 2022, Chef Weston Ludeke relocated to Santa Fe from Charlottesville, Virginia, where he helped open Keswick Hall resort. Before that, Ludeke lived and worked in Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. He found his voice in cooking through training under amazing chefs and restaurateurs including Gordon Ramsay, Michael Mina, Stephen Starr, Joachim Splichal, and Brendan Collins. At The Compound, his goal is to bring the bounty of the farmers market to the table, following the same French technique and philosophy for which Chef Kiffin is known.