Tortellini in Brodo (Tortellini in Broth, Bologna-Style)

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Tortellini in Brodo is one of the culinary symbols of my adopted city, Bologna. Picture a flavorful meat filling, full of prized ingredients from the area, enveloped by delicate handmade and hand-rolled pasta, served in glorious homemade broth. When prepared with love and skill it is magical, luscious, and transcendent fare. (I’m swooning just thinking about it…) Tortellini in Brodo is an extremely important dish in this part of the world, not merely a recipe. It holds centuries of history and tradition behind it. Today, I want to clarify, as I did with my Ragù Bolognese article, what Tortellini in Brodo actually is in its place of origin. In addition, I will share the recipe that I prepare for my family. This post will be full of helpful tips to bring a little of Bologna to your table. (That’s a very good thing!)

Tortellini in Brodo

I have to be honest, I never intended to do a post on Tortellini in Brodo. It’s been written about so much that I didn’t feel it necessary. Recently, though, I came across a recipe for Tortellini in Brodo on a prominent and respected American cooking website that made me want to cry. What they were calling Tortellini in Brodo, well, wasn’t.

I’m one of those people who think that a name has value. When speaking of any traditional dish, whether it be Pizza Margherita, Mapo Tofu, or Tacos al Pastor, I think that one should either make the dish as it’s traditionally prepared, or change the name. It’s a matter of clarity, standards (knowing what one is talking about), and respecting tradition and culture. (I have zero issues with creativity in the kitchen and feel that home cooks can do as they wish.) This recipe was so incredibly off base that it made me feel like I did need to pipe up, with the solid understanding that this recipe was one of thousands of its ilk.

Another reason why I wasn’t going to post about it, was that I didn’t write the recipe that I make at home. On my blog, I generally use either my work or recipes that others have shared with me from my travels. For my tortellini filling, I use a recipe written by Alessandra Spisni, the woman behind The Vecchia Scuola Bolognese. I happily studied Bolognese-style pasta-making there for 6 weeks in 2014-2015. She graciously gave me permission to use the recipe. Grazie maestra Spisni! I will share her filling quantities while writing everything else in this post and the recipe in my own words. The broth recipe is mine and the egg pasta dough recipe is a standard. Shall we begin?

Context…

First things first, I need to explain some things. One thing that I have learned over the years, is that the name of a pasta shape doesn’t always refer only to how you physically form the pasta. It can mean the entire dish and all that it entails. What do I mean? Tortellini in Brodo doesn’t mean that you are serving a tortellini-shaped pasta with any old pasta dough, in any old broth, with any old filling. Tortellini in Brodo means something very specific. Despite any slight variations one might see within the parameters of tradition, the dish has a typical dough, uses a typical broth, has particular filling ingredients, and is a certain size.

This concept is not something that most people would understand. I certainly didn’t in the past. From an American perspective, it wouldn’t have occurred to me considering how we have a tendency to switch things up.

Note, some pasta shapes are completely flexible, like ravioli for example. Ravioli can be filled with any number of fillings and you can still call them ravioli. I’m not going to delve further into this subject but did want to highlight the specificity of some names of pasta shapes and dishes. Tortellini in Brodo is in that category of dishes.

What’s in a name?

If you are not adhering to those things, you are making a different dish. Period. You need to therefore change or alter the name if you are putting it on a menu or recipe title. If you veer too far from these standards on an Italian restaurant menu in Italy, you need to specify this in the name and on the menu description because it would be an absolute shock to receive something other than what the dish is. Personally, after almost 7 years in Bologna, I’ve never seen a creative interpretation of tortellini anywhere except in one of my cookbooks. Why fix what ain’t broke?

History…

I spent over 5 1/2 hours this morning reading about Tortellini in Brodo. Mercy. I read various recipes and investigated the dish’s history. By the time I was done, my head was spinning and I was no closer to a definitive origin of the dish than when I started. As with any historical dish, they happen and develop over time, with many influences thrown in to contribute to the creation of a dish.

I will spare you all of the details and simply state that it’s a very old dish with early versions cited in texts as early as the 1300s. Some legends about tortellini take it even further back to 1095. There are many origin stories about tortellini. According to one of my books, they are bits of fantasy with apparently very little to do with reality. Some legends have many versions of themselves! It’s like a game of telephone, it changes depending upon who’s telling it!

All sources attribute the origin of Tortellini in Brodo to the region of Emilia-Romagna, with the cities of Bologna and Modena staking claims on the dish. False though it is, I need to mention one of the most famous origin stories, sheer fantasy or not! This story takes us to Castelfranco Emilia at an inn called Corona. Castelfranco Emilia is located between Bologna and Modena.

Legends and belly buttons…

In this tale, Bacchus, Mars, and Venus stay a night at the inn. Bacchus and Mars rise early in the morning and leave Venus to rest. Rising later and thinking herself abandoned, she rings the bell frantically for the host. When he arrives, he finds the goddess in all of her splendor, naked. Struck by the sight of such beauty, in particular, the perfection of her belly button, he is inspired to imitate its glory in pasta form! He runs down to the kitchen grabs a piece of pasta that the old maid has just rolled out, and creates the first tortellino… It’s an amusing and fanciful story…

Interestingly, the location of the tale is a clever way to appease the people of both Bologna and Modena. This origin story is based on a poem by Alessandro Tassoni called, “Secchia Rapita”, and was later embellished by the writer Giuseppe Ceri. The author of a book on tortellini that I reviewed was amused by their strategic use of this town, smack in the middle of the two rival cities. How convenient… Let’s just say that Tortellini in Brodo is important to both cities to keep everyone happy. Or not…

Tortellini in Brodo – the breakdown

Enough blabbing. As I stated earlier there are three main components: the broth, the filling, and the pasta. Let’s break it down.

The broth

Recently I wrote an entire blog post about Italian meat broth. It is a broth comprised of several cuts of meat and simple aromatics in order to not overpower the flavor of the tortellini. You don’t serve Tortellini in Brodo in vegetable or chicken stock (generally speaking)! Throughout the year, this is the most common broth in Tortellini in Brodo. It is what I prepare most often. When it’s not a holiday, I use a pressure cooker and it only takes an hour. If it is Christmastime, a capon broth the way to go and I cook it for at least 3 hours. It has a delightful flavor and elevates the dish to a whole other level. I describe how to make both in my post. (I urge you to take a look at it because this broth is the base of so many scrumptious Italian dishes that I also discuss.)

Even though I often use store-bought broth for quick weeknight meals or to use in pureed soups, this is a dish where you really need to use homemade broth.

The filling

The filling is rather simple and relies heavily on the incredibly high-quality ingredients produced in the area. I would even call it a celebration of the local and justifiably famous products. It has nothing to do with cheese tortellini that one might see at the supermarket in America. (For a cheese-filled pasta served in broth you would be speaking of Cappelletti di Magro or Spoja Lorda, both from the Romagna area.)

Here are the main ingredients that I use which are the most common. The “official” recipe registered by the Bologna sector of the Academia Italiana della Cucina and the Confraternita del Tortellino on December 7, 1974, also uses the same ingredients but with different quantities than I will share below.

• Pork
• Prosciutto di Parma
• Mortadella
• Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Egg
• Nutmeg

In addition to these base ingredients, some cooks add chicken or veal to supposedly lighten things up but according to the Simili Sisters, very famous Bolognese cooks, this makes tortellini “più tristi”, meaning “sadder.”

Filling notes

Pork

As with everything in Italian food, there are strong opinions about the right way to do things. Official recipe or not, families have been making tortellini for generations and all have their own recipes and methods. There are two camps regarding the pork in the filling. Some people use ground raw pork. Some use cooked pork. (Each is horrified by the other.) I am in the second camp. According to Alessandra Spisni, it’s likely that the pork used in the filling historically was some leftover roast. To that end, she cooks her pork and so do I. Personally, I think it adds better flavor and I loathe handling raw meat. The Simili Sisters are also in the cooked pork camp and they are extraordinary Bolognese cooks. (One of them died last year… but they taught in town for many years.)

To cook the pork, you cook it in butter. Most people leave it at that but in this recipe, we are going to also use some white wine in the process and broth if needed. Some of the cooking liquid will also go into the filling. Some cooks also marinate their meat a touch with garlic and rosemary. I have not done this but, of course, it sounds fabulous. Take a look at the book, “Tortellini at Midnight”, by Emiko Davies. She does this in her recipe and has wonderful stories to tell as well.

There are also divisions as to what cut of pork to use. Most seem to use the loin and I have tried this. It’s fine, but I prefer and was taught to use a fattier cut of meat. Of course, it has more flavor. Do what you will.

Prosciutto di Parma, Mortadella, and the King of cheeses

The other ingredients are rather straightforward but there are things to keep in mind. Use Italian Prosciutto di Parma, mortadella and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. It’s typical for people to splurge on the best quality of each of these ingredients for their beloved tortellini. If you do the same, it will make your dish even better. Please note that if you purchase mortadella with pistachios, you need to remove them. Bolognese mortadella does not contain pistachios. I grew up with that kind and love it, but it is a Bolognese no-no. Also, if you see peppercorns, remove them as well.

For the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, as usual, there is absolutely no substitute. It ideally needs to be aged 30-36 months. If not, you may need to add more to your filling to get the right balance of flavors. Please grate it fresh as it diminishes in flavor after it’s grated.

Last filling notes…

Bolognese cuisine is not heavy on herbs and spices. However, fresh nutmeg is very popular. You need to add a decent amount to your filling. It can’t obscure the other flavors but you do need to taste it. I put rather a lot in mine. Please use freshly grated nutmeg!

Lastly, you need to have a highly seasoned filling. This goes for all kinds of stuffed pasta. You are going to wrap your filling in a layer of starch that will take flavor away from your filling. Even though it is full of salty pork and cheese, you will need to taste it and, more likely than not, add salt. You will be adding an egg to bind and that needs to be seasoned. Make it extremely flavorful or it might be bland.

The pasta

A standard pasta recipe for egg dough in Italy and especially Emilia-Romagna is only flour and eggs. No oil, salt, or fuss. For every 100 g (1 scant cup) of flour (usually 00 flour), you use 1 egg (large in the US, medium in Italy). It’s a perfect recipe and easy to memorize. A three-egg dough (300 g flour + 3 eggs) makes just under a pound of pasta.

Generally, the liquid in any pasta dough will roughly come to 50% of the flour weight. It’s something to keep in mind so that you can easily use this recipe to whip up pasta anytime and simply make as much as you need depending on how many people you are serving. You can also simply use 100 g of flour + 1 egg per person if that helps you. That would make generous servings but having extra pasta is never a bad thing.

When you are rolling out your dough, try to use as little excess flour as possible as the flour will contribute to drying out your dough.

Kitchen scales

Many American home cooks are not used to doing things by weight. However, I recommend getting a kitchen scale that weighs in pounds, ounces, grams, and kilograms. That will give you the freedom to cook recipes from anywhere. There is better accuracy with a scale and the metric system. Don’t feel the need to convert to ounces. With a scale, you will have fewer dishes, better results and it’s also wonderful for portion control. For serious pasta making it’s a must in my book.

If you have a scale, it will help you greatly with this recipe. To make tortellini, the amount of filling should roughly be equal to the amount of dough by weight. It’s good to know these kinds of things. This way, you will know how much filling and/or pasta to make if you have one or the other on hand. With this recipe, you should have approximately 600 grams (21 oz) of filling. The recipe calls for 400 grams (14 oz) of flour and 4 eggs, this will get you close to 600 grams (21 oz) of pasta. It’s perfect. Your yield should be approximately 1-1,2 kg (2-2 1/2 lbs) of tortellini.

Tips for Success

Tortellini making is a bit of a race against time. Ideally, you will be making them as a group. I recruit both my husband and my daughter. In the past, I did it all by myself. I was slow and my dough dried out, which led to some waste because my pasta was no longer pliable. This Christmas I asked for help and even though I am much faster having more experience, it was a better process to have other people around. (It was also more fun!) If you are doing this by yourself, roll out your dough a little at a time. Be patient with yourself, you will get faster over time.

Once you roll out the pasta for the tortellini, you are going to cut the dough into 3-cm (1 1/4-inch) squares. Although some American recipes state to cut tortellini into circles, I disagree wholeheartedly. There are practical reasons for this. If you were to cut the dough into teeny circles, it would take a ridiculous amount of time and would lead to much more waste. (Who wants a lower yield?!) The more time you take, the more time your dough has to dry out. Make your tortellini square and if you have a pasta bike cutter, all the better. It will make quick work of cutting even squares.

It takes a village…

After your dough is rolled out, it’s time to divide and conquer. Have one person put the filling in while the other starts forming the tortellini. Once all of your squares are filled, everyone can start shaping them. My ten-year-old daughter makes gorgeous tortellini. (You can do this!) If you are using a pasta machine to roll out your dough, you won’t have as much dough rolled out at a time as with hand-rolled dough. This will make things easier. To assist, you may want to keep a spray bottle around, filled with water, to moisten your dough as needed. Another thing you can do is to cover the area you are not using with a plastic sheet or a dampened kitchen towel.

As you complete your tortellini, place them on a pasta rack if you have one or a sheet pan lined with a kitchen towel. Make sure they are not touching until they have dried out a bit. You can tell by feeling the outside of the tortellini. You may need to turn them now and then.

Tortellini in Brodo game plan

Since there are several steps to preparing Tortellini in Brodo, it’s good to have a game plan. It’s quite a project, especially if you don’t have any help. Here are my tips:

• Make the broth in advance. I usually make it 2-3 days ahead. You may also freeze it for up to 3 months, although I think it begins to diminish in flavor after 1.
• Prepare the filling 1-2 days in advance and store it in the refrigerator. This will allow the flavors to get to know each other and will taste much better. It will also get the filling nice and cold which is important. There is so much pork fat in the filling that it can get soft and difficult to work with as the heat of your hands warms it. The filling also freezes very well. Defrost it in the refrigerator.
• The pasta should be prepared last. I don’t care for refrigerated pasta dough even though I do use it at times.

Storage, video links, and last thoughts

You can prepare tortellini in advance. If you want to store them in the refrigerator, you may do so after you have air-dried them a bit. Once they can touch each other without sticking and feel a bit dry to the touch, place them in a bowl or colander lined with parchment paper. They should keep in the fridge for 4-6 days. Check on them daily and give them a toss to ensure they are not sticking.

Tortellini freeze really well. All you need to do is lay them out on a sheet tray lined with parchment, not touching. Freeze them for a few hours, then place them in a freezer bag or container. They will keep for 3 months but I prefer to use them within a month. Cook them directly from the freezer. Do not defrost. Note, tortellini should only be cooked in broth according to most.

Sometimes, you may have squares of pasta remaining once your filling runs out. With the squares, you can make sorpresine or garganelli. Click on the names to see quick videos of me making them. Also, here is a link to a video of me forming one tortellino. If you take a look at my Instagram profile, you will also find some tortellini highlights with more videos. In addition, I have an IGTV channel with pasta tutorials. It will help you see how much filling to put into each square and how to form them. Note that I am not skimpy with the filling. There is no point in making stuffed pasta with barely any stuffing in there! It takes more skill to close the tortellini with more filling but it’s worth it. Practice makes perfect.

The recipe for Tortellini in Brodo

I know that I have given you a lot of information in this post but I am trying to set you up for success! Your tortellini are going to be gorgeous. Although these used to be eaten only at Christmas, they are a year-round thing nowadays. Once you taste how good traditional Tortellini in Brodo is, you will want it more than once a year as well! Enjoy.