A poor man’s plate or a rich man’s dish? Invented in the house of Gonzaga or the house of Este? This filled pasta dish is a recipe that has been the subject of much debate and extraordinary variations. Although the shape of the pasta and the fillings vary, the building blocks are the same: pasta and pumpkin.
In the towns along the banks of the Po, fillings made with amaretti biscuits replace the mustard-based fillings found in Mantua while in Piacenza soffritto and tomato is favoured in place of the usual butter and sage.
Pumpkin tortelli was invented in the kitchens of noblewomen at the start of the 1900s and was favoured as a meal for Christmas Eve, given than in Catholic religion meat must not be consumed on that day. It then became a classic, traditional dish enjoyed by all.
Ingredients
For the filling 150g amaretti biscuits (according to Emilian tradition)
2kg pumpkin
150g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
breadcrumbs nutmeg
salt
For the pasta
400g plain flour
4 whole eggs
Method
Bake the pumpkin in the oven at about 200°C until it has lost most of its water but is not too dry. When the pumpkin is cooked through, remove the peel and the film that will have formed on the pulp. Leave to cool for a few minutes. Crush the amaretti biscuits and grate the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Mix together the pulp with the salt, nutmeg (be careful not to overdo it), cheese, amaretti biscuits and, if necessary, a few breadcrumbs. If the pumpkin is not sweet enough you can add a tablespoon of sugar or honey. Combine all the ingredients with the pumpkin until you have a smooth filling. Now prepare the pasta. Mix together the flour, whole eggs and water to make a soft dough. Leave the dough to rest for half an hour then roll it out. Use a tablespoon to place mounds of filling the size of egg yolks onto the pasta. Fold the pasta and cut it into rectangles, taking care to seal the edges of the pasta well by pressing them with your finger. Cook the tortelli in plenty of salted water until al dente, drain and place them in layers in a casserole dish, sprinkling each layer with a little grated cheese and butter melted with sage. Finish off the cooking in a bain-marie. For a tasty, slightly heartier version, dress the tortelli with a soffritto of onion and tomato, together with lard, pancetta or pork pesto. In Piacenza, tortelli are sometimes accompanied by a “red” sauce with porcini mushrooms.
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