Tortellini is a type of stuffed pasta typical of the Italian cities of Bologna and Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region. Traditionally it is stuffed with a mix of meat (pork loin, prosciutto, mortadella), Parmesan cheese, egg, and nutmeg and served in capon broth ().

Origins

The origin of tortellini is disputed; both Bologna and Modena, cities in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, claim to be its birthplace. The etymology of is the diminutive form of , itself a diminutive of ().

The recipe for a dish called appears in 1570 from Bartolomeo Scappi. Vincenzo Tanara's writings in the mid-17th century may be responsible for the pasta's renaming to tortellini. In the 1800s, legends sprang up to explain the recipe's origins, offering a compromise. Castelfranco Emilia, located between Bologna and Modena, In honour of this legend, an annual festival is held in Castelfranco Emilia. Another legend posits that the shape comes from Modena's architecture, which resembles a turtle.

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File:Tortellini in brodo Bologna.jpg|

File:Tortellini.jpg|Industrially-made tortellini, easily recognizable for the extremely regular cut of the dough and the symmetrical closing of the extremities

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Comparison with

is pasta in a similar shape, but larger, typically 5 g, vs. 2 g for tortellini. While tortellini has a meat-based filling, is filled with ricotta and sometimes with parsley or spinach. Moreover, while tortellini is traditionally cooked in and served with broth, is cooked in water, stir-fried (traditionally with butter and sage), and served dry.

See also

  • List of pasta
  • Pelmeni
  • Tortelli

References

  • Hand-made tortellini original recipe by a cooking school located in Bologna
  • Hand-made tortellini in brodo how-to, with video
  • Tortellini production video
  • From the rolled out egg-rich and flour pasta dough, stuffed with a mix of meat, the hand made production of tortellini (navel-shaped pasta) - video