Beet Piacentini Tortelli: between tradition and color, a dish that is never missing from the Piacenza table. A recipe belonging to the oldest tradition, dating back to 1351, invented by the cooks of the Vigolzone castle, in honor of Francesco Petrarca. Since then, it has been handed down from generation to generation, I have already posted the recipe for Traditional Tortelli, now I propose an excellent alternative, always respecting the traditional ingredients. We prepare the dough, adding beetroot to the mixture, which gives color and a particular flavor, so the filling will still be ricotta, greens, thyme, honey, Grana Padano cheese, and grated lemon zest. The traditional seasoning, butter and sage, but with added thyme, and lemon zest. They are really fabulous, fragrant, and light. Try them!
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Boiling, Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 281.26 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 34.15 (g) of which sugars 2.06 (g)
- Proteins 15.11 (g)
- Fat 9.88 (g) of which saturated 5.65 (g)of which unsaturated 3.50 (g)
- Fibers 1.91 (g)
- Sodium 983.27 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 144 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 egg yolks
- 2.12 oz beetroot (already cooked)
- to taste salt
- 1 cup ricotta
- 5 oz spinach, cooked, boiled
- 2.12 oz Grana Padano DOP (grated)
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 lemon (grated zest)
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
- 2 sprigs thyme (fresh)
Tools
- Stand Mixer KitchenAid 5KSM175PSECA – Artisan Stand Mixer with 4.8 L Mobile Motor Body
- Work Surface Lupia Work Surface, birch wood board 75×100 cm
- Pastry Cutter QINERSAW 6 Pieces Stainless Steel Cake Ring, Square Pasta Cutter 6 cm 8 cm 10 cm, Steel Mold for Making Desserts, Gourmet Dishes
Steps
Let’s prepare the pasta:
blend the beetroot with an immersion blender, it should become a cream. Meanwhile, prepare the flour on a work surface, or you can easily use a mixer. Make a small hole in the middle, add the egg yolks, blended beetroot, and salt. Knead everything well with your hands until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Sprinkle a little flour on the work surface and roll out the dough into thin sheets, then cut circles with a pastry cutter.
Prepare the filling:
Cook the spinach for a few minutes, drain, squeeze, and chop together with the thyme leaves, using a knife. Soften the ricotta in a bowl with a spoon, add the Grana Padano cheese, herb mixture, honey, lemon zest, salt, and pepper, and mix everything together. Put part of the filling in a piping bag and place a nice tuft on the pasta circle, which we will close with the particular weave of Piacentini tortelli.
Bring the water to a boil in a large pot, add a pinch of salt, as soon as the water boils, pour in the tortelli and cook until they rise to the surface. Meanwhile, in a pan, melt the butter, add the thyme, lemon zest, sage, salt, and pepper. Drain the tortelli in the pan, toss them for 5 minutes and serve on the plate with some fresh sage leaves.
Once the tortelli are ready, before cooking them, you can easily freeze them for about 3 months, and use them as needed
