tortellini | elainetrigiani

tortellini in brodo

tortellini in broth

pasta

3 eggs

1 cup (125 g) hard wheat flour (finely ground semolina)

1 cup plus 2 Tbspoons (125 g) flour

pinch of salt

filling

220 g / 8 oz pork loin, cut in large pieces, cooked in olive oil with a bay leaf

200 g / 7 oz prosciutto di parma

200 g / 7 oz mortadella

70-100 g / 2.5-3.5 oz grated parmigiano

nutmeg

2 eggs

To make the pasta, mix the flours with the salt, pour them onto a clean work surface and make a well in the center. Break the eggs into the well and beat with a fork, slowly incorporating flour until you can work the dough with your hands. Work in all the flour and knead, sprinkling the countertop with semolina as you go. The dough should be smooth and elastic, if it’s wet or sticky add some flour; if it’s dry add another egg yolk [note that wet is way, way better than dry: you can always add some flour later].

Wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes.

Use a rolling pin to roll and stretch the dough to form sfoglia/sheets of dough, or use a hand-crank pasta machine to make the sfoglia, if the dough is sticky it will shred, to avoid that dredge the dough in flour while you're rolling it out.

To make the filling, cook the pork loin in olive oil with a bay leaf and when it's cooked through chop it into big pieces. Finely chop the pork, prosciutto and mortadella in food processor until it is all reduced to small bits but is still a bit chunky. Use a spatula to stir in enough cheese to add flavor without covering up the meaty flavors, add some nutmeg and mix in two beaten eggs.

To fill the tortellini, cut the fresh sheets of pasta into 1" squares and turn a square of pasta so you're looking at it like a diamond. Put a little ball of filling in the middle, bring the bottom point up toward the top point, press to seal, bring the two side points around until they meet and press to seal them together [you can wrap them around your little finger .. if you find the squares of pasta too small to work with cut them to 1 1/2"]. Let the tortellini rest on a dish cloth before serving.

Cook in boiling meat or meat & chicken broth for 3-4 minutes to warm the filling and cook the pasta. Serve the tortellini with lots of broth in low, wide bowls and top with grated parmigiano.

Watch our tortellini making video No. 14.

Pork-filled tortellini are made in Emilia, from Bologna west. Cappelletti, which are made in Romagna and around Ferrara in the eastern parts of the region, are often made with a filling of ricotta & parmigiano with some nutmeg or with a filling of ricotta & capon and they are eaten in a capon broth.