Lucchese Tordelli is a traditional first course from Lucca. It’s a very rich and hearty stuffed pasta. In fact, the filling of these tortelli includes mixed minced meat, mortadella, cheese, and aromatic herbs.
As with any typical regional dish, Lucchese Tordelli varies from city to city, potentially including wild herbs in the filling, or prosciutto instead of mortadella, but they always retain their classic half-moon shape.
For serving this pasta, I recommend a meat ragù, but if you prefer an easier and quicker sauce, I suggest the classic butter and sage.
Follow the recipe and try making these delicious tortelli yourself!
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 50 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 eggs
- 3.5 oz ground beef
- 3.5 oz ground pork
- 2.8 oz mortadella
- 0.7 oz stale bread
- 1 sprig rosemary
- to taste salt
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- 1 oz grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg
- 0.84 cups vegetable broth
- to taste parsley
- 14 oz ragù
Preparation
Cut the stale bread into cubes and place it in a bowl.
Add the broth and let it soak.
Finely chop the mortadella with a knife and set aside.
Cook the ground beef and pork in a pan with a drizzle of oil and the rosemary sprig.
In a bowl, combine the mortadella, egg, cooked meat, and squeezed bread.
Finally, add the Parmesan, salt, and a bit of chopped parsley.
Mix well to combine the ingredients, working with your hands if necessary to make the filling as homogeneous as possible.
On the work surface, pour the flour into a mound and create a well in the center.
Pour in the eggs and start beating them with a fork.
Begin to incorporate the flour, little by little. Then proceed to knead by hand until you get a smooth and homogeneous dough.
If desired, you can also knead with a stand mixer.
Roll out the dough with a pasta machine to obtain a thin sheet.
Place it on the work surface and cut out circles with a cookie cutter.
Place a small amount of filling in the center of each circle, then fold in half to create a half-moon.
Press the edges to seal them. Continue in the same way until you finish the ingredients.
Gather the tordelli on a lightly floured tray.
Heat the water in a pot. When it boils, salt to taste and drop the tortelli in.
Cook for about 4/5 minutes, as soon as they float, transfer them directly to the pan with the hot ragù.
Serve hot.
STORAGE
I recommend preparing and cooking the Lucchese Tordelli and serving them immediately.
You can store the uncooked tordelli for a day in the fridge or freeze them in the freezer.
