Tortellini from Italy

Tortellini are a famous and delicious kind of filled pasta from the region Emilia Romagna. The legend says that one day there was a battle between two italian cities Modena and Bologna, and that in this also some gods took part: Venus, Bacchus and Mars. After spending the night in a local guest house, Venus was surprised naked in the morning by the owner and cook of the place when he went to wake her up. Charmed by her beauty, and especially of her belly button, he tried to resemble its shape with a piece of pasta. The first tortellino was made!

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people)

For the pasta
400 gr of flour
4 eggs

For the filling
500 gr of spinach
250 gr of ricotta
salt
pepper
nutmeg

PREPARATION

To make tortellini you first have to prepare the egg dough which in italian is called “pasta all'uovo” (with that same dough you could do all kind of pastas like tagliatelle, etc..). It takes some work so the ideal and more fun way is to do it together, at least 2 people.

Put the flour on a table creating a hole, it should look like the crater of a volcano.
Then put the eggs inside and slowly with a fork incorporate the flour, once it starts to absorb the eggs you can start using your hands and work on it. When it gets uniform make a ball out of, it and put it in a bowl covered with a wet cloth (so it doesn't dry out). Leave it to rest for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling. There are many options, the traditional one is with meat but since I am vegetarian I would like to propose another typical option which is “ricotta and spinaci”.

Clean the spinach and cook them until they become soft, just a few minutes. Then drain them and let them cool down. Put the ricotta cheese (or any other cheese similar to it) in a bowl and add a pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg, mix and then also add the spinach. Mix again until it becomes homogeneous.

Now that you have the filling ready and 30 minutes have passed we start with the funniest part, which is making the Venus belly button!

Roll out the pasta into a sheet of 1 mm approximately. Keep the rest of the pasta covered so it doesn't dry out, it's important it maintains its humidity. Cut squares of 4 x 4 cm.

Take a square and put some filling only in the middle, then fold the square into a triangle. Press the borders of the sides coming together (the two sides where there is not the filling) to make them stick together. If the pasta is already drying a little wet the tip of your fingers and pass them on the pasta, so they will stick. Now take the bottom two corners of the triangle together to form the characteristic belly button shape and press tightly to seal. You can also put your finger in the middle so to create a little hole.

Now repeat for all the rest of the pasta, and here is when it gets easier and more fun if you are working together with somebody else.

HOW TO COOK

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a tablespoon or two of salt.
Pour the tortellini and Stir occasionally to prevent them from sticking to the pot or each other. Cook until all the tortellini have bobbed to the surface of the water, about 5 minutes. Taste one to check if it's done. 

Serve with some olive oil on top and parmigiano cheese.

Enjoy and.. 

BUON APPETITO!