Homemade Sorpresine Pasta (little surprises)

Sorpresine (meaning little surprises) is a really easy pasta shape to make at home. Roll out some fresh pasta dough and spend some time folding these little squares. They are made to look like a stuffed pasta shape, a little pasta trickery! Sorpresine are traditionally served in broths but I like to use them with any of my sauces.

Hello! I am writing up this quick guide to make sorpresine at home. It's such a simple and fun shape to make. I love rolling out some pasta dough, putting some music on in my kitchen and folding away!

For this recipe you will need to make a batch of my Easy Homemade Pasta Dough. It really is the perfect dough that works out perfectly each time. Weighing the ingredients with scales, including the eggs is key to getting a perfect dough, not too wet and not too dry. You could also use my Herb Laminated Pasta Dough recipe.

What you'll need

For the pasta

Room temperature fresh eggs - I weigh my eggs for the dough to give a really accurate ratio of flour to eggs. This might seem an over the top step but I promise it's worth it.

'00' Flour or Plain Flour - Either works and you really can't tell the difference.

Optional semola rimacinata flour - This is a really fine semolina that can be used in a dough to give it more bite. Totally optional and my dough recipe explains this in more detail.

Equipment

Pasta machine - You can roll out pasta by hand with a rolling pin but it's so much easier with a machine. I use both a marcato and the kitchen aid pasta attachment.

Sharp knife or pizza cutter - You'll need this to cut the pasta sheet into squares. You can also get fancy and buy adjustable pasta cutters but a knife will do the job.

Wooden cutting board - When making any kind of pasta a wooden surface is always the best way.

Expert Tips

• Only roll out ¼ or even ⅙th of your pasta dough at a time. If you roll out too much it's going to dry out while you are cutting and folding the sorpresine.
• If the pasta squares are drying out pop them under a slightly damp tea towel.
• Put the finished folded shapes on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and dusted with some semolina.
• Make sure you roll out your pasta using the rolling guide in my pasta dough recipe. You'll get beautiful silky sheets that way.

How to fold sorpresine.

Make sure you check out the short tutorial video in the recipe card below. Roll out your pasta dough ¼ at a time to setting 6 or 7 on a marcato, depending on your preference.

Add some fresh herbs into your dough!

I love adding some fresh herbs into my dough to make this fun speckled effect. I prefer using flat leaf parsley. Mix two tablespoons of very finely chopped parsley into the eggs before adding to the flour. I love the texture it creates.

Storing sorpresine

The pasta will sit out on the bench covered loosely with plastic wrap for 30 mins or so. Any longer and I would freeze them, even if cooking the same day. Freeze them open on a tray for 20 minutes then transfer to an airtight container or freezer bag and cook from frozen.

Freezing pasta shapes is my preferred method every time. It tastes perfectly fresh. Storing fresh pasta in the fridge can make it go super sticky and lose it's shape. The freezer is the only way! For filled shapes make sure you check out my guide on how to store ravioli.

What sauces are best for sorpresine?

They are traditionally served in a broth so feel free to boil them straight into the broth or soup of your choice. I think they can work in any sauce you like! Here are some suggestions of sauces I think they would be delicious with.

Recipe