In Italy, the topic of food and cuisine is strictly associated with ancient wisdom and culinary traditions. Whether they are just revived or carefully revisited, they always preserve that original and authentic taste that makes a dish or an ingredient famous.
This feeling in Emilia Romagna is firmly linked to its land, fruits, and people who have loved and celebrated its peculiarities, carrying on the internationally recognised passion for good food. Among the excellences of this region, Bologna’s recipes stand out. Not only did its tortellino grant the city the nickname of “la Grassa” [the fat], but it also holds many stories and legends that disclose its origin. Its name (in Bolognese dialect turtlén, in Modenese turtlèin) derives from the diminutive of tortello, from the Italian torta. However, its origin is still debated. As a matter of fact, the dispute between the cities of Bologna and Modena over its paternity continues to this day.
As the story goes, in 1200 a young and beautiful marchioness arrived, with a carriage drawn by four horses, at the Corona inn in Castelfranco Emilia to get some rest. The innkeeper escorted the lady to her room and, hopelessly attracted by her beauty and struck by her navel visible through the keyhole, stood there spying on her. When it was time to make dinner, this vision had so inspired him that he rolled out the pastry reproducing the features of the young noblewoman’s navel, but not knowing what to do with the pastry alone, he filled it with meat. And so, the delicious stuffed tortellino was born. However, other stories allude to a divine origin by featuring the goddess Venus as their protagonist. The historian Cervellati reports that in the 12th century tortellini were already eaten in Bologna during Christmas (tortellorum ad Natale). On top of that, during the winter period and close to the winter solstice of December 21st, it was common to eat calorically dense and nutritious food such as capon broth, the tortellino’s historical ally.
Traces of its history dates to 1500. The diary of the Senate of Bologna reports that 16 Tribunes of the Plebs who gathered for lunch were served a plate of minestra de torteleti [tortellini in broth]. Furthermore, in 1570 a Bolognese cook (perhaps Bartolomeo Scappi, cook of Pope Pius V) had a thousand recipes printed, among which tortellini was featured. The official recognition of the dish, however, is marked by the registration of the original recipe, that of tortellini in brodo (tortellini in broth), on 7th December 1974, by the “Dotta Confraternita del Tortellino” at the Bologna Chamber of Commerce. Today, when walking through the city streets one will notice that every self-respecting bread and pasta shop sells its “tortellini della nonna” [grandmother’s tortellini], strictly handmade by the skilled Bolognese housewives according to their own family tradition.
The filling of tortellini is usually made with pork loin (marinated for 2 days with garlic, rosemary, salt, and pepper) to be cooked over low heat in a pan with a knob of butter, raw ham, Bologna mortadella, parmesan, 1 egg, and nutmeg (all to be finely minced with a beater). In the Modenese version, pork loin is preferred to be cut into cubes and sautéed in a non-stick pan for a few minutes, together with Modena ham, mortadella, extra-mature parmesan cheese, 1 or 2 eggs, grated nutmeg, white pepper, and salt (all to be finely minced with a meat grinder). The dough is prepared with wheat flour (“00”) and very fresh hen eggs; everything must be kneaded by hand for at least 15 minutes and then the dough must be wrapped in a cloth and rest for an hour. The dough must be then rolled out with a rolling pin until it reaches a thickness of less than 1 mm; squares of about 4 cm must be cut out (Pellegrino Artusi, a late 19th-century gastronome, set the diameter of the disc of dough at 37 mm), and on each of these a small amount of filling must be placed. Lastly, the squares must be folded into triangles and shaped around one’s finger (whether it be the index finger).
The broth in which the tortellini are cooked (be careful not to call them cappelletti, which instead are larger, with thicker pastry and more filling) also differs from city to city. While in Modena it is made with chicken and is prepared in the morning to be eaten in the evening, in Bologna it features capon and beef (the bone must not be missing).
Ingredients for 4 servings
- 2.5 l vegetable broth
- 500 g fresh tortellini
- Grated parmesan cheese to taste
- Salt to taste
How to make tortellini in broth
- Prepare a good vegetable broth with fresh seasonal vegetables. When choosing the ingredients always consider that it is a very simple and light base. To make a good dish, it is important, then, to use many different vegetables in order to enrich the flavour. If one wishes, flavourings such as cloves, peppercorns, and bay leaves can be added.
- To prepare vegetable stock, wash the vegetables, cut them into pieces, and place them in a large pot with water. Bring the pot to boil, add salt, and cook the stock over a moderate heat with the lid slightly raised. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh strainer at the end of cooking.
- Put the stock back into the pot and bring it back to a simmer.
- When it boils, add the tortellini and cook them according to the time indicated on the packet.
- At the end of cooking, grated parmesan cheese can be added directly into the pot or to the plates.
- Your tortellini in broth is ready! Serve them piping hot.
References:
Apicio [Marco Gavio] (1990). L’arte culinaria. Manuale di gastronomia classica. Milano. Bompiani.
Becchi, M. (2021). Tortellini in broth: the Italian recipe. [online] Gambero Rosso International. Available at: https://www.gamberorossointernational.com/news/food-news/tortellini-in-broth-the-boxing-day-dish-of-santo-stefano/ [Accessed 25 Nov. 2022].
Il Cucchiaio d’Argento. (n.d.). Ricetta Tortellini in brodo. [online] Available at: https://www.cucchiaio.it/ricetta/tortellini-in-brodo [Accessed 25 Nov. 2022].
Messisbugo, C. (1557). Libro novo nel qual si insegna a far d’ogni sorte di vivanda. Venezia.
Monica (2019). Tortellini In Broth, A Dish For Special Occasions. [online] Tortellini&CO. Available at: https://www.tortelliniandco.com/tortellini-in-broth-recipe/?lang=en [Accessed 25 Nov. 2022].
Pascarella, M. (n.d.). Tortellini in brodo, un piatto caldo ideale per le giornate più fredde. [online] www.ricettedalmondo.it. Available at: https://www.ricettedalmondo.it/tortellini-in-brodo.html [Accessed 25 Nov. 2022].
Ricette di cucina – Le Ricette di GialloZafferano.it. (n.d.). Tortellini in brodo. [online] Available at: https://ricette.giallozafferano.it/Tortellini-in-brodo.html [Accessed 25 Nov. 2022].
Venturi, F. (2018). Il tortellino muore nel brodo. Milano. Mondadori.
Written by Teresa Bifulco, PhD student in “European Languages and Specialized Terminology”, University of Naples “Parthenope”.