Today, a typical Bolognese first course, Bolognese Balanzoni are a type of stuffed pasta similar to tortellini but larger and made with spinach in the dough as well.
Bolognese Balanzoni are smaller than tortelloni and are often prepared for festive occasions such as Christmas.
A rich filling of mortadella, spinach, and ricotta closed like tortellini that will make everyone at the table fall in love.
A first course of stuffed pasta that can also be prepared in advance and stored raw, laid out well on a tray and covered with a clean cloth in the refrigerator for a few days, or frozen raw to be cooked without defrosting.
How to dress Bolognese Balanzoni? Simply with butter and sage to enhance the flavor of this typical stuffed pasta that Bolognese housewives have been preparing skillfully for a long time.
Below I’ll leave you other stuffed pasta recipes to prepare for Christmas and beyond, and then right after the photo, let’s discover how to make Bolognese Balanzoni!!
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for Bolognese Balanzoni
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs (medium)
- 1 oz spinach (fresh or frozen)
- 1 cup ricotta
- 3 1/2 oz grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 oz spinach
- 3 1/2 oz mortadella
- 1 egg
- 2 pinches salt
- to taste black pepper
- to taste nutmeg
- 7 tbsps butter
- to taste sage
Tools
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Rolling pin
- 1 Pot
- 1 Pan
- 1 Immersion blender
Preparation of Bolognese Balanzoni
To prepare the Bolognese Balanzoni, first prepare the egg pasta, then wash and squeeze the fresh spinach.
Cook them in a pan with just the washing water and a pinch of salt until tender.
Squeeze them well and blend them with the immersion blender.
On the pastry board, form a well with the flour, add the eggs in the center, and start incorporating them slowly with a fork.
Once the eggs have been incorporated, add the spinach previously chopped and work vigorously.
Form a compact and homogeneous ball and let it rest covered with plastic wrap for 1 hour.
Prepare the filling by cooking the spinach intended for the filling in the same pan you used before.
Squeeze them and chop them finely with a knife.
Chop the mortadella finely with a knife; I don’t recommend the mixer because the mortadella should be felt between the teeth.
Add the mortadella, spinach, ricotta, and egg in a bowl and mix with a fork, then salt, pepper, and season with nutmeg.
You need to obtain a homogeneous and compact mixture.
Take the dough and roll it out with a rolling pin or with the pasta machine into a not too thin sheet.
With a pasta cutter, cut out 6/7 cm squares, then take a small portion of the filling with a teaspoon and form a small ball.
Place the ball in the center of each square and close them one by one to form a triangle, sealing the edges well.
Stretch the 2 corners at the base and close them by rolling each tortello on the index finger, closing by pressing the 2 corners together.
As you form the “crazy tortelli”, place them on a wooden cutting board lightly sprinkled with remilled semolina.
The Crazy Tortelli are ready; if you want to cook them immediately, bring a pot of slightly salted water to a boil.
Cook them for a few minutes until they float to the surface, and in the meantime, melt the butter in a large pan with sage leaves.
Drain them directly into the butter and sage sauce and let them soak for a moment before serving.
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How to store “crazy tortelli”
You can easily store them in the freezer raw, well laid out on a tray, and once frozen, arrange them in freezer bags.
Other recipes
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