Steps

• Grind the three types of meat using a meat grinder (if desired, passing it twice).

  👉 Alternatively, you can have it ground directly by the butcher at the time of purchase.

  Cook the meat in a pan, stirring with a spoon, without browning it. A few minutes are enough; it should be cooked but white, not seared.

  👉 Some people cook it by adding oil or butter; I don’t add anything, cooking it as is, because using a non-stick or steel pan, added fats can be avoided. In the case of a steel pan, you just need a pinch of attention: keep the heat low and move the meat quickly with a spoon.

  Once cooked, pour the meat into a bowl and add the cheese.

  👉 A note on the cheese: here, we have ‘cappelletti cheese,’ which is also called ‘piada cheese’ (because it’s traditionally used, and very suitable, for both purposes). It’s a type of soft caciotta cheese.

  Mix with a fork (if desired, with hands) and season with a sprinkle of pepper (and optionally salt, but I don’t), a good grating of nutmeg, and lemon zest.

  👉 I like the taste of lemon zest to be quite present (while my mom uses a bit less than I do).

  Finally, add the egg. It’s not essential; it aims to make the filling more compact, but it can be omitted if the filling is well ground.

  Set the filling aside (in a covered bowl or container) and proceed with making the egg pasta.

  The filling doesn’t have a particularly photogenic color when seen alone, but paired with the color of the egg pasta, it becomes beautiful, to me. 😀

  PS: the hands in motion are my mom’s, grandma Vanda’s 🙂

  

• Even though with the previous photo I’ve spoiled the final look of the egg pasta, in this case rolled out with a rolling pin and then cut into squares, I leave you a couple of pieces of information:

  First of all, I repeat here –> the link to the basic recipe to which I refer you, so I spare you the repetitions.

  

• Additionally, two tips I find useful, not only for cappelletti but in general for all stuffed pasta:

  1. Roll the pasta thinly. According to grandmothers’ tradition, the thinner the pasta, the better. It can be rolled out either by hand or with a pasta machine, electric or manual.

  2. While making the cappelletti (and if not working with more hands to speed up), it is advisable to cover the rolled-out pasta (already cut into squares) with a sheet of cling film to prevent it from drying out.

  👉 If the pasta dries, it becomes very difficult to seal the cappelletti. Alternatively, I suggest rolling out little pasta at a time (keeping the rest closed with cling film or under a bowl) to avoid giving it time to dry.

  Below, I show you a photo where you can see the cling film on the already cut squares. In the foreground, you can also admire my not-so-successful attempt (luckily out of focus!) to make a cappelletto as small as a tortellino by closing it around the pinky. 😀

  

• After rolling out the pasta, cut it into squares of approximately 1.18 – 1.57 inches per side.

  👉 You can cut it with a pastry wheel or knife, as you wish. There are also special wheels that cut the squares directly, but personally, I’ve never found them convenient; I prefer using the pastry wheel. If desired, using a fluted wheel, you can obtain cappelletti with scalloped edges (I’ll show you the photo at the end of the recipe).

  🌟 The size of the squares is subjective, according to taste or family tradition. In my father’s family, cappelletti used to be large, while in my mother’s family, they were made smaller (but not as tiny as the Bolognese tortellini).

  Place “a pinch” of filling on each square of pasta.

  

• Fold the square into a handkerchief.

  

• Seal the entire edge by pinching it between your thumb and index finger.

  

• Close the two ends by pinching them together or overlapping. Again, each family uses the method they prefer.

  

• We usually close them by turning them around the index finger, except for personal experiments like you’ve seen a few photos back. 😊

  And here are the cappelletti made by Flavia and her friends. A first work worthy of applause. 💛 (Next time, they’ll also learn to make them all the same! 😃).

  

• Homemade cappelletti are predominantly cooked in meat broth.

  The Christmas Day broth, made especially for the cappelletti, includes, in addition to the classic broth meat, the addition of capon. (In my future plans is also publishing the broth recipe, will our heroes succeed? 😀)

  

• For storage, I would distinguish between before and after cooking.

  Before cooking: if made on the same day of consumption, it is sufficient to place the cappelletti on trays without overlapping them, possibly covering them with a cloth. If made in advance, it’s advisable to freeze them. In this case, I recommend putting them in the freezer directly with the tray, then, once frozen, transferring them to a bag or container. (Like for gnocchi).

  

• After cooking: if there’s leftover after cooking, I recommend removing them from the broth and letting them drain before placing them in a container; otherwise, if they remain in the broth, they will become mushy and expand by the next day.

  If you want to recycle leftovers in an alternative way, make them like this 👉 crispy, as I suggested in this recipe.

  Finally, last photo but not least, the photo I mentioned at the beginning of the process: cappelletti with a fluted edge. I really like them cut this way. 🙂