Who doesn't really like pasta? As we celebrate National Tortellini Day, which tortellini is your favorite? Tortellini is an Italian meal which has become popular in America.
Pasta is a common meal eaten my American families on a weekly basis and tortellini is a pasta dish that is eaten quite often.
Tortellini comes from Emilia-Romagna region, Bologna and Modena both claim tortellini pasta as their own.
Tortellini is pasta shaped like a ring, and often referred to as “belly button” due to its shape like a navel.
The Confraternita del Tortellino, registered the recipe for tortellini in 1974 with the Commerce of Bologna, Italy. It was said that the recipe had to contain exact proportion of pork loins, prosciutto crudo, Bolognese mortadella, Parmigiano-Reggiano, eggs and nutmeg which was known to be the real filling.
As Italians migrated to the U.S. they brought their wonderful pasta recipes, and tortellini was an instant hit earning its own day called National Tortellini Day.
The most common filling in your grocery store is ground beef, mushroom and spinach and cheese. In order for the filling to remain firm it has to be held with egg and ricotta cheese. Tortellini also comes in red and green colors for tomatoes and spinach flavors.
In celebration of National Tortellini Day you can pick up fresh tortellini in your refrigerated grocery store section or dry tortellini on your store shelves. You can serve this with pesto, pasta sauce, cream sauce or in a broth as a soup.
Recipe
Tortellini
Pasta Dough
• 3 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• ½ tsp. salt
Filling
• 1 tsp. butter
• 1lbs. of mushroom, diced into small pieces
• 2 oz. ricotta
• ¼ cup grated parmesan
• 2 eggs
• Grated nutmeg
• Salt and pepper
Steps
1. Make a mound with the flour and then dig out a well in the middle of the mounds. Then crack the eggs into the well and add the salt.
2. With your hands, work the ingredients into the dough. The dough should be a bit sticky.
3. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and let rest for over an hour. * Note - you can adjust the consistency of the dough with water if it’s too firm and flour if it’s sticky.
4. Mix all dough ingredients
5. Once dough has rested. Roll out dough with a rolling pin.
6. With a cookie cutter. Cut out circles from the dough and put aside.
7. Fill each circle with ½ tsp. Fold circles in half and break the ends to the front and pinch to close.
8. Bring pot of salt water, and boil tortellini
9. For 3 minutes until they rise to the top. Drain and serve with pesto, pasta sauce and cream sauce and parmesan cheese.
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