Start this recipe by preparing the egg pasta dough. Place the flour in a food processor, add the eggs and spinach puree and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. This should only take a minute. Tip out the dough and knead to form into a ball shape. Knead it briskly for 1 minute. It should be quite stiff and hard to knead. Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in a cool place for 30 minutes to an hour before using.

Meanwhile, prepare the cheese filling. All that you need to do is place all the ingredients together n a bowl, season well with salt and pepper and mix till you have a smooth paste. Next, you can prepare the pasta sauce. Heat the oil in a pan, and sauté the garlic for a minute or so. Add in the tomato puree and cook for a minute. Pour in the tomato polpa, water and dried oregano and turn down the heat. Season well with pepper and salt, cover the pan with the lid and gently simmer for 10-15 minutes. When ready, stir in the chopped basil leaves.

By the time that you have prepared the tortellini filling and sauce, the pasta dough should be ready to use. Remove the dough from the fridge and cut into 2 pieces. Flatten each piece with a rolling pin to about 5mm/¼ in) thickness. Pass the dough through the pasta machine at its widest setting, then reset to the second widest setting. Pass the pasta dough through the machine again, and then fold into four. Dust with some flour and repeat this process four more times. It is important to work the dough until it is nice and shiny, as this gives it the “al dente” texture. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Now you are ready to roll out. Start with the pasta machine at its widest setting again. Dust the dough with some flour and pass it through the rollers. Do not fold but repeat this process, decreasing the roller setting down grade by grade with each pass. For best results, take the pasta down to number 8 for tortellini or ravioli.

Once you have rolled out pasta dough, cut out disks 8cm in diameter. Lay the disks out side by side on your work surface. Brush the edges lightly with a little water. Using a piping bag, pipe a teaspoonful of the filling in the middle of each disc. Fold the discs in half so that you have a half moon. Roll the long side with the filling once towards the rounded edge, and then pinch the 2 ends together to form tortellini. Repeat this process with all the pasta discs and put the finished tortellini on a tray dusted with semolina.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil then turn down the heat. Carefully place the filled tortellini into the water and cook for just a few minutes, leaving them al dente. Immediately remove the tortellini from the pan using a large slotted spoon and place onto your serving plates. Spoon over the tomato and basil tomato sauce and serve sprinkled with some grated Parmesan cheese.

Suggested accompanying wine: DELICATA Medina Syrah, Carigan, Grenache D.O.K. Superior