Sacchetti Pasta: What It Is And How To Make It
Sacchetti pasta (you’ll also see it spelled sachetti) is fresh pasta shaped into little pouches, like tiny drawstring bags with the filling pinched inside. The name means small sacks in Italian.
I fill mine with ricotta, mascarpone, and grated pear, then serve the pouches in a parmesan bechamel. Sweet filling, salty sauce, soft pasta. It’s the dish I pull out when I want to impress somebody without a trip to a specialty store.
Below is how I make the dough, shape the pouches, and put the whole plate together, plus the make-ahead shortcut I use on busy weeks.
What Is Sacchetti Pasta?
The Sacchetti pasta is a type of fresh pasta, shaped to look like a small pouch or sachet.
It is usually filled with cheese, but I add grated pear to mine as well. There’s just such an exciting difference between plain ricotta and ricotta enriched with pear!
Sacchetti pasta can also be filled with a combination of bacon, chicken, and cheddar cheese — just chock full of savory flavors!
When it comes to Sacchetti pasta, I made the classic egg-based pasta. It is deliciously soft when cooked, but still firm enough to hold the filling.
The pasta can be served with freshly made tomato sauce, but to follow the theme (and my memories), I served my Sacchetti pasta with bechamel sauce and some fresh parmesan on top.
What To Serve With Sacchetti Pasta
Sachetti pasta is a meal you can serve on its own, as it is rich and fulfilling. However, if you want to serve it with something else, I recommend serving it with:
Sacchetti is rich, so I keep everything around it light. And when I’m in the mood for pasta with more punch, my shrimp rasta pasta and lemon pepper pasta are the two I rotate in.
Can You Make Sacchetti Ahead Of Time?
Yes, and I usually do. Shape the pouches, freeze them in a single layer on a floured tray until solid, then bag them up. They keep about a month.
Cook them straight from frozen and give them an extra minute or two in the boiling water. I’ve covered cooking frozen pasta in more detail if you want the full rundown.
Sacchetti Pasta
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 8 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 12 oz flour, or a mix of all-purpose flour and bread flour
- 4 large eggs
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1½ tbsp olive oil
For the filling:
- 1 cup ricotta
- ½ cup mascarpone
- 1 pear, grated
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For the bechamel sauce:
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1½ tbsp flour
- ½ cup half-and-half
- ½ cup milk
- 3 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
1. Make the pasta; combine flour and salt in a bowl. Add flour and stir, then add room-temperature eggs and stir until the dough comes together.
2. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Alternately, just add all the ingredients into a stand mixer bowl, add the dough, and turn on the mixer.
3. Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes up to 2 hours.
4. To roll out the dough, cut it into small pieces. Use your pasta machine or roll it out using a rolling pin. The dough should be almost transparent.
5. Cut the dough using a 5-inch diameter cookie ring. Place the discs of pasta on the baking paper.
6. Make the filling; in a bowl, combine all the filling ingredients. Season the filling with salt and pepper.
7. To assemble; place a teaspoon of filling on each pasta disc. Gather all the sides to form a pouch. Pinch the dough together and continue with the remaining discs.
8. Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water for 2 minutes.
9. Make the bechamel sauce; melt the butter in a saucepot. Add flour and cook for a minute. Add half cream and milk and cook until thickened. Stir in parmesan.
10. Put it all together; add pasta to the warm sauce and stir gently to coat the pasta.
11. Serve your pasta warm, sprinkled with some extra parmesan cheese on top. Enjoy!
Notes
Making your own pasta is an easy way to control the ingredients and flavors you have in your dish. There are many different sizes and shapes of pasta — you can create any type of dish you want!
- Select the right flour — all-purpose flour is a good choice for most pasta dishes, but it can be a bit bland. For a more flavorful pasta, I like to use a mix of flours, such as semolina or bread flour.
- Make sure your eggs are at room temperature before adding them to the dough.
- It’s just like making any other pasta (using water) — if the water is cold, it will make your dough tough, and you will have difficulties rolling it out. So, you use water that is either room temperature or slightly to the lukewarm side. This doesn’t exactly apply to Sachetti pasta, as it is made with eggs only, but you get it.
- Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. Do not overwork the dough or it will become too sticky.
- Make sure you roll your dough into thin sheets. Use a pasta machine for this or roll the dough with a rolling pin. If you are using the rolling pin, do not roll the dough in left-right motions, just up and to the side.
Sachetti Pasta
This delicious Sacchetti pasta features a pear and cheese filling, just waiting to explode with sweet and savory flavors!
Ingredients
For the pasta dough:
- 12 oz flour, or a mix of all-purpose flour and bread flour
- 4 large eggs
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1½ tbsp olive oil
For the filling:
- 1 cup ricotta
- ½ cup mascarpone
- 1 pear, grated
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For the bechamel sauce:
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1½ tbsp flour
- ½ cup half-and-half
- ½ cup milk
- 3 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
1. Make the pasta; combine flour and salt in a bowl. Add flour and stir, then add room-temperature eggs and stir until the dough comes together.
2. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Alternately, just add all the ingredients into a stand mixer bowl, add the dough, and turn on the mixer.
3. Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes up to 2 hours.
4. To roll out the dough, cut it into small pieces. Use your pasta machine or roll it out using a rolling pin. The dough should be almost transparent.
5. Cut the dough using a 5-inch diameter cookie ring. Place the discs of pasta on the baking paper.
6. Make the filling; in a bowl, combine all the filling ingredients. Season the filling with salt and pepper.
7. To assemble; place a teaspoon of filling on each pasta disc. Gather all the sides to form a pouch. Pinch the dough together and continue with the remaining discs.
8. Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water for 2 minutes.
9. Make the bechamel sauce; melt the butter in a saucepot. Add flour and cook for a minute. Add half cream and milk and cook until thickened. Stir in parmesan.
10. Put it all together; add pasta to the warm sauce and stir gently to coat the pasta.
11. Serve your pasta warm, sprinkled with some extra parmesan cheese on top. Enjoy!
Notes
Making your own pasta is an easy way to control the ingredients and flavors you have in your dish. There are many different sizes and shapes of pasta — you can create any type of dish you want!
* Select the right flour — all-purpose flour is a good choice for most pasta dishes, but it can be a bit bland. For a more flavorful pasta, I like to use a mix of flours, such as semolina or bread flour.
* Make sure your eggs are at room temperature before adding them to the dough.
*** It's just like making any other pasta (using water) — if the water is cold, it will make your dough tough, and you will have difficulties rolling it out. So, you use water that is either room temperature or slightly to the lukewarm side. This doesn't exactly apply to Sachetti pasta, as it is made with eggs only, but you get it.
* Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. Do not overwork the dough or it will become too sticky.
* Make sure you roll your dough into thin sheets. Use a pasta machine for this or roll the dough with a rolling pin. If you are using the rolling pin, do not roll the dough in left-right motions, just up and to the side.
when does the oil go in?