Tortelli Stuffed with Ricotta and Parsley
I have been looking forward to this one. It is one thing to make tortelloni in a cooking class in Bologna, with expert supervision, help with kneading and rolling with a mattarello, and someone showing you how to fold and shape. It is another to do it all yourself for the first time at home, and then cook them and make a sauce.
First I made the ricotta-parsley filling with one of my new big hunks of Parmigiano-Reggiano from Reggio-Emiglia.
The pasta dough seemed stickier than I am used to. I was surprised by the addition of a little milk. My first problem was trying to put too much stuffing in the center!
The butter and cream sauce was delicious, as Marcella said it would be with them. I think they would be wonderful with browned butter ad sage. Not bad at all for a first attempt!
I definitely want to make GREEN tortelli, and try some with a meat filling. I also am determined to buy a mattarello and get it home on my next visit to Italy in September!
Thank you, Marcella for a fabulous pasta chapter! For me, it is on to Risotto and Polenta!
Palma, these look gorgeous!
Regarding a mattarello, the first one we brought home from Bologna was warped! We went to a lumber supply store and bought a oak dowel of the correct dimension and it worked fine. On our next visit to Bologna, we purchased a couple, they were different lengths. Make sure the one you choose isn’t warped.
I have really been enjoying this chapter, thank you pomodori!
Beautiful, Palma. I look forward to your posts just as much for the chance to see your beautiful Italian pottery as for the yummy food you serve on them.
They look just perfect!
YUM! You did a brilliant job, my friend! I’m actually sorry that I didn’t get to make one of the shaped pastas. Oh well, something to work on when I get home from Chicago.
This reall has been a brilliant chapter to play about in, hasn’t it?
As I am sure I must have explained somewhere in that homemade pasta chapter, the stickiness of dough that contains milk favors a tight seal when closing the tortelli. No one has mentioned the spoonful of oil I add to the water. This is ONLY for stuffed homemade pasta so that the tortelli slide rather than bump against each other. I do not otherwise ever add oil to pasta water.
About the mattarello, make sure it doesn’t have an end resting on the floor. It must hang free and clear otherwise it will warp.
Palma, i tuoi tortelli sono bellissimi! I am gratified to see these great dishes come to llfe through the efforts of the Pomodori. Complimenti.
Great job as usual, Palma! I bet they were yummy!