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Green Tortellini with Meat and Ricotta Stuffing

Pomodori e Vino Posted on by

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I’ve come to one of my most challenging dishes so far. Today it was my turn to make tortellini – Green Tortellini with Meat and Ricotta Stuffing. I will start by saying I have never made tortellini before, and have never watched it being made. I thought about going to youtube and watching a video of someone making it, but I decided instead to follow Marcella’s instructions and see how it turned out.
This tortellini has a meat and ricotta stuffing. You cook pork butt and veal shoulder (that was a challenge to find!) in butter. Chop it into very fine pieces, then mix it with chopped mortadella, ricotta, parmagiano-reggiano, an egg yolk, and a small grating of nutmeg.
The pasta is green, which is made by adding finely chopped cooked spinach to the flour and egg mixture as you’re mixing your pasta. The pasta was much easier than I thought it would be. The pasta also has a little milk added to it to make it a little sticky, which is what you want for a filled pasta. You also work with a small amount of dough at a time, keeping the rest covered with plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out.
So, how do you make tortellini? You roll the pasta dough out into sheets, and cut it into 1 1/2″ squares. You then put a small amount of the filling in the center of each square. You then fold according to Marcella’s instructions. I’m not going to go into detail here, because the instructions are a little complicated. One thing she did suggest doing before you make them for the first time is to cut tissues into the correct size and try to fold them the correct way.
The folding of the tortellini got easier as I went along. I never did get fast with the process though. I will also admit that I began making them a little larger also (2″ square instead of the 1 1/2″) and that also made it a lot easier for me.
The flavor of these tortellini was excellent. Mild veal and pork, stronger mortadella, and that hint of nutmeg. I served mine with the Proscuitto and Cream Sauce that Palma posted about earlier, which was just perfect with these totellini.
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Would I make these again? Absolutely. And I hope I will get faster each time I make them.

Comments

Green Tortellini with Meat and Ricotta Stuffing — 13 Comments

  2. This brings me to my time in Bologna with Raffaella and Francesca!!…oh my goodness….mouth watering!!!!!
    Brava!!

  3. Those are BEAUTIFUL! I am making mine today. Can’t wait! Aren’t they fun? So pretty all lined up!

  4. Beautiful! I could give you a hug, Cindy. I am glad you were able to make those gorgeous tortellini without benefit of a demonstration either live or through video, but simply by paying close attention to my directions. You should indeed continue to make them as often as you are able because, aside from the fact that they are delicious, shaping them requires manual dexterity and that develops over time. When I had my school in Bologna, I had an assistant, Margherita Simili who could make 45 tortellini a minute! Margherita and her sister Valeria opened their own school after I closed mine.

  6. Amy, Mindy, and Suzi-Thanks! I loved the green colour of the dough.
    Marcella-Thank you so much for your nice comments. It was a bit of a challenge figuring out the instructions. Not because they’re not clearly written, but because most things like this are easier done when seen visually. But I persevered and managed. I was quite slow, but as you said, I’m sure it does get faster with each attempt. I read your comments about Doug letting his pasta sheets dry. That was one thing I found out. One sheet at a time, and you must work fast. The dough does dry out fast, and when that began to happen you couldn’t form them into their shape. I kept mine well-wrapped under plastic wrap. Thanks again for another wonderful recipe that is very special.

  7. Cindy, these are just gorgeous!!!! As soon as I have time to make something that isn’t on my own assigned list, this will be the very first.
    We’ve got two more weeks of pasta, and I for one am going to be sad to leave the chapter behind.
    Marcella, in the weeks we’ve been on this project, I’ve taught myself to take the time to read a recipe completely before starting. And when necessary, I’ve gone back to the “fundamentals” section to reread the parts that pertain to the recipe I’m doing that week. It makes a HUGE difference!

  8. I just wanted to comment regarding the Simili sisters. My husband and I were very fortunate to take a number of classes with them over the course of a few years.
    Margherita was amazing! She was incredibly adept at shaping many types of pasta. There was a pasta shape from Liguria, whose name escapes me. I found this shape terribly difficult. She whipped those babies out at lightning speed! All I could do was shake my head and laugh at my own ineptitude.
    I can still taste the tortellini in brodo we made with them…

  11. They are so pretty, Cindy – maybe too pretty to eat! Just kidding, of course – I would love to have a plate of those right now!

  12. @ Susie L: Margherita is what Italians call a force of Nature. She started working for me when she was still making pasta in her father’s shop, and stayed for 12 years until I closed the school and moved my classes to Venice. Her manual dexterity is a marvel to watch. The Ligurian pasta she was rolling off her fingers may have been trofie, delicious with pesto. Sometimes Chefshop.com carries it.

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