Walnut & Pork Stuffed Agnolotti

FARCE:

1. Preheat the oven 350 °F. In a roasting pan, add pork shoulder and enough water to cover half of the pork shoulder. Cover with foil and braise for 4 hours or until tender. Remove from oven, let cool and reserve. Cook garlic in oil for 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Take cooled braised pork shoulder and pull apart into smaller pieces. Add 1 cup toasted, chopped walnuts and mix well. Pass pork/walnut mixture through meat grinder. Place in mixing bowl.   
3. Add remaining 1 cup toasted, chopped walnuts into pork/walnut mixture. Add Parmesan cheese and mascarpone, season to taste with salt and black pepper. Cover and keep refrigerated until ready for use.

NETTLE SPUMANTE:

1. Heat sauté pan and add olive oil. Add nettles and sauté until fully wilted. Add milk and puree.
2. Pass through chinois, discarding solids. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Warm and froth to serve.

PASTA DOUGH:

1. In a mixing bowl, add flour and kosher salt. Mix thoroughly and make a well.  Add whole eggs and egg yolk, extra virgin olive oil, and water if necessary.  Mix and knead by hand or with a dough hook until dough forms and pulls away from the bowl. Portion pasta dough into 5-ounce dough balls. Keep covered to prevent dough from forming a skin. Keep refrigerated until ready for use. Note:  Bring dough to room temperature before use. 
2. “Knead” with a pasta machine. Instead of extensively kneading the fresh pasta dough, fold it and run it through a pasta maker on one of the thicker settings. Fold the pasta sheet over on itself and run it through the pasta maker again. Repeat 8 to 10 times, or until the pasta is very smooth and elastic.
3. Let the pasta rest. Wrap it in plastic and let it rest at room temperature for about half an hour.
4. Cut the pasta into rectangular sheets. As the sheet of pasta comes off the pasta maker, lay it on a floured board and cut it into rectangular sheets about 12 inches long. Sprinkle flour lightly on each sheet after you cut it, and continue stacking sheets on top of each other.

ASSEMBLY:

1. Pipe out the filling. Pull one sheet of pasta off the top of the stack. Put the farce in a large pastry bag fitted with a wide tip (it should be at least 1/2 inch across). Pipe a straight line of filling lengthwise on the pasta sheet, leaving enough pasta at the top to fold over the filling.
2. Make a pasta tube around the filling. Fold the pasta top over the filling. Press firmly to seal. You can moisten the tip of your finger and run it along the seam if it doesn’t want to stick together. Use a wheeled pasta cutter or a sharp knife to cut the filled tube of pasta away from the rest of the sheet, making sure to keep the sealed strip intact.
3. Make and cut the Agnolotti pockets. Use the tips of your fingers to pinch the tube of pasta into equally sized sections, creating a seal between pockets of filling. Use the wheeled pasta cutter or a sharp knife to separate the sections. Quickly cut through each, leaning the tube of pasta in the direction you’re cutting. You should be left with small, individual pockets of filled pasta. Place the finished Agnolotti in a tray of coarse cornmeal.
4. Repeat and store. Repeat until all of the pasta sheets and filling have been used. At this point the pasta can be cooked right away, covered and refrigerated overnight, or frozen. To freeze, freeze until solid on a large baking tray, and then transfer to containers or freezer bags.
5. To cook fresh or frozen Agnolotti, cook in a large pot of salted boiling water for 2 minutes, or until tender.
6. To assemble, divide nettle spumante on plates. Place cooked Agnolotti on top. Garnish with toasted, chopped walnuts, calendula flower, and shaved Parmesan cheese (optional).