Traditional Filling Ingredients

The fillings of the tortellini are very diverse, ranging from cheeses to herbs to meats. Particularly in Bologna (believed to be the tortellini hot spot and origin, which then spread throughout the world in the 19th and 20th century), “every family makes its tortellini with small variations and considers its own [recipe] to be the only true and authentic recipe.” (Zanini de Vita, 297) However, “on December 7, 1974 the Accademia Italiana della Cucina, Bologna section, and the Confraternita del Tortellino registered with notarial act and deposited with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce the ingredients and quantities of the “true and authentic” tortellino. Here, then, is the definitive recipe to fill about one thousand tortellini: 300 grams lombo (loin) of pork, browned in butter; 300 grams prosciutto crudo; 300 grams true Bolognese mortadella; 450 grams parmigiano-reggiano; 3 hen’s eggs; and 1 gram of nutmeg.” (Zanini de Vita, 297) This recipe includes all three main ingredients of cheese, meat and herbs. At the same time, traditional tortellini can be made with a variety of meats and herbs. For example, a Renaissance Milanese recipe from Bartolomeo Scappi makes a tortellini filling of beets, spinach, cinnamon, raisins, cloves and saffron. (Dewitt, 46) Additionally, an Italian villager said her traditional tortellini filling recipe “is wonderfully old-fashioned, containing calf’s brain with butter, minced pork, mortadella, Parmesan, eggs, and a pinch of nutmeg.” (Dickie, 295)

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