Tortelli or ravioli, whatever you like to call them: stuffed pasta is simply delicious. In Emilia-Romagna this pasta is known as tortelli. Many different fillings exist. This one is particularly delicious, stuffed Tortelli with spinach, ricotta and chard. And for those who like, bacon.
Stuffed pasta takes some effort, but is incredibly delicious. This one, with spinach, chard and ricotta is my favorite version. Traditionally, it is tossed briefly in browned butter after cooking. If you like, sauté some fresh sage while browning the butter (like I did in the pictures). The whole thing tastes delicious also in the not quite so classical, but also not untypical, variant with tomato sauce and fresh Parmesan. Then, a very simple tomato sauce without frills should be used, so that the great taste of the tortelli is not lost.
This recipe is for Tortelli with spinach and swiss chard. If you want to, prepare the pasta only with chard or only with spinach. I personally really like chard and was surprised to get it here in Mumbai as well. Although baby chard, therefore a little less strong in flavor, but still made me very happy.
Here you’ll find the basic recipe for pasta dough with eggs.
Tips for filling the Tortelli
Be careful not to take too long when filling. The dough can dry out in the process, making it harder to work with when you close the tortellis (I dawdled while taking photos, so this is exactly what happened to me). Be careful not to take too long when filling. The dough can dry out in the process, making it harder to work with when you close the tortellis (I dawdled while taking photos, which is exactly what happened to me). However, if you have a similar experience, you can lightly moisten it with water in those spots.
By the way, this is actually the first recipe I wrote for this blog. I just put it a bit behind because I wanted to post a few other recipes ahead of time. But really, this is the birth of it 🙂.
Tortelli verdi reggiani con ricotta e spinaci – Swiss chard and spinach stuffed Tortelli
Ingredients
- 300 g pasta dough with eggs (based on 2 eggs)
For the filling
- 300 g chard
- 300 g Spinach
- 1½ Tbsp bacon chopped (optional)
- ½ Tbsp garlic chopped
- 1 Tbsp parsley chopped
- 100 g Parmesan grated
- 100 g Ricotta
- nutmeg to taste
For serving
- Butter
- Parmesan
Instructions
- Remove the hard stems from the chard (save them, see below). Wash the leaves thoroughly 2-3x and cook in a large pot with a little water until soft.
- Also wash the spinach 2-3x thoroughly and cook with a little water until soft.
- Then drain the chard and spinach, squeeze well and chop on a board.
- Fry the bacon in a large pan over medium heat, add the garlic and chopped parsley and cook over low heat until well done.
- Allow the vegetables to cool slightly and when still warm, mix well with the grated Parmesan, ricotta and nutmeg. Because of the parmesan and the bacon, there is no need to add salt. If you want to make it without bacon, you should salt the filling.
- Roll out some of the dough evenly with a rolling pin, it should then be 10 cm wide. Cover the rest of the dough so that it does not dry out.
- The dough should be so thin that light shines through well when you hold the dough up, about the thickness of a thick linen cloth. Here you can also see well the dark (thicker) areas that should be reworked again.
- Now place the filling 2 cm from the top edge, walnut-sized portions at a time, all 4 cm from each other.
- Fold the dough over the filling, aligning the edges. If necessary, brush the dough with water to make it stick better, I always have a small bowl of water next to it for this purpose.
- Then, starting from the center, gently press the dough around each portion of the filling, pushing out any trapped air if possible.
- Place the tortelli in a bowl sprinkled with semolina, preferably not on top of each other. Otherwise they like to stick to each other or to the bowl.
- Now bring a large pot of salted water to a simmer. Cook the tortelli a little at a time for about 5 minutes, letting them float to the top and puff up a bit. Remove with a perforated ladle.
The dressing
- Melt plenty of butter in the pan, add a few sage leaves if desired. Then add the tortelli and toss in the butter. The butter may brown a bit.
- Serve with a generous amount of Parmensan on top.Enjoy!
Please rate my recipe before you leave 🙂:
Notes
Sources:
- https://agricoltura.regione.emilia-romagna.it/dop-igp/temi/prodotti-tradizionali/paste-fresche-panetteria-biscotteria-pasticceria-e-confetteria/tortelli-ripieni-con-bietole-tortelli-verdi-alla-reggiana
- Bennison, V. (2019). Pasta Grannies: The Official Cookbook: The Secrets of Italy’s Best Home Cooks. United Kingdom: Hardie Grant London.
- https://turismo.comune.re.it/it/reggio-emilia/enogastronomia/ricette-della-tradizione/tortelli-verdi-reggiani
Cooked with love on From zero to curry.
