Romagna cappelletti di magro, meaning with a cheese-only filling, is a food I grew up with. It’s a dish I remember my mother making, and I also recall those Sundays where, fearing the dough would dry out, she would call “Luigiiiiii,” and my dad would come to help close the little squares of fresh filled pasta. Such beautiful memories of a time now definitively gone, alas…

I added “di magro” because there are several versions in Romagna, including meat fillings that, to me, correspond only to the Bolognese tortellini.
To avoid writing amounts by eye as Maria, that is my mom, did at home after many, many years of practice, I took the ingredients from the book “La sfoglia infinita” written by the Associazione Sfogline di Bologna e provincia and published by I quaderni del Loggione (cost €9).

My mom would use raviggiolo, nutmeg, eggs, and Parmesan, and I close my eyes, savoring that enveloping and intense flavor in my mind again!
The caplèt is, for the Romagna tradition, a dish that evokes celebration, Sunday, Christmas, and is different in both filling and shape from its famous Bolognese cousins.

The Romagna cappelletto di magro must be nice and full, 2 to 2.5 inches on each side because the fresh pasta should fill the mouth so that you can “feel” the creaminess of the filling better.
Once the mound is made with the flour and the dough is rolled out, you must quickly add the filling and close them, keeping the remaining dough covered with a towel to prevent it from drying out too much.

In some texts, I’ve read that before closing them, you should moisten the cappelletto edges with a wet finger, but honestly, I never saw my mom do this, nor have I ever done it myself: I think it’s a trick for those not too experienced with hand-rolled fresh egg pasta, and if you make the dough correctly, you won’t need it!

The filling of the cappelletti for me, as a Romagna native from Granarolo Faentino, a small town about 5.6 miles from Faenza (Ra), is strictly di magro, but there are also versions prepared with a mix of meats and cheese.
There is also a third version I found in the book “Civiltà della tavola contadina in Romagna” by Liliana Babbi Cappelletti (ha ha ha) published by Idea Libri, featuring candied citron, typical of Cesena.

The CAPLET cappelletti should be served cooked in broth of capon or chicken.
We will carefully and lovingly pour them into the boiling broth; they will then be cooked al dente, and finally, VERY IMPORTANT, they should be left to rest for 3 to 4 minutes in the pot before the azdora can compose the individual plates.

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ROMAGNA CAPPELLETTI DI MAGRO
The cuisine of ASI