Make the goat cheese filling: add the sun dried tomatoes and fresh basil to a clean blender.

Pulse well until you get a chunky puree.

Add this and the goat cheese to a mixing bowl.

Stir well. Then check the seasoning and add extra pepper or salt to taste. Put the cheese filling in the fridge until needed later. Make sure your fresh pasta dough is not too sticky and not too dry. Knead it a little to make it extra elastic.

We will work in batches so tear off a little piece of the dough (wrap the rest up in some cling film) and flatten it a little in the palm of your hand. Start rolling it at the widest stand on your pasta machine (that is #1 on mine).

Roll the pasta sheet a couple of times like this on the widest stand to make it extra smooth in the beginning. Then narrow the gap between the 2 rolls down gradually as you go. Sprinkle the dough with extra pasta flour if it starts to become too sticky. Put it in the fridge for a minute to chill if the dough is too soft and warm. Roll the dough out very thinly.

Don’t make it too thin or the tortellini will be too fragile and burst open while poaching. If your dough is too thick, the tortellini will be a little too chewy. For me #7 is just perfect. Place the freshly rolled dough slab on a clean and floured surface and cut out 2-inch (5 cm) squares. That’s the perfect size for tortellini if you ask me.

Place a tiny dollop of your tortellini filling on each square. Again, not too much or the tortellini will burst open. I add about ⅓ teaspoon of filling each time.

You can find here step-by-step pictures of how to roll your pasta dough to perfection and how to fold the fresh tortellini.

Fill a large and high pan with water, add some salt and bring it to a good boil. Then add the tortellini and poach them for 3 minutes until they all rise to the surface.

Remove them using a slotted spoon. Serve the freshly made tortellini with a simple sprinkle of olive oil, fresh herbs, grated parmesan and sea salt.