Tortellini in Brodo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Hand-crank pasta machine (essential for home cooks)
• •Large wooden board or clean work surface for pasta making
• •Meat grinder with fine plate, or food processor
• •Fluted pastry wheel or sharp knife
• •Large stockpot for brodo (10-quart minimum)
• •Fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth
• •Sheet pans for holding shaped tortellini

Instructions

1. 1

   Start the brodo

   Place the capon (or chicken and beef bones) in a large stockpot. Cover with cold water by four inches. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. This takes time. Do not rush it. As foam rises to the surface, skim it away. Continue skimming until the liquid is relatively clear.

   Never let the broth boil. A rolling boil makes the broth cloudy and the meat tough. A lazy simmer, with occasional bubbles breaking the surface, is what you want.
2. 2

   Add aromatics to broth

   Add the carrots, celery, onion, tomato, parsley stems, and peppercorns. Season with salt. Continue simmering gently, uncovered, for 2 to 3 hours. The liquid should reduce by about one-third and become golden. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth. Discard the solids. You should have approximately 3 quarts of clear, golden broth.

   The brodo can be made days ahead. Refrigerate and remove the fat that solidifies on the surface. This fat is not waste. Save it for cooking.
3. 3

   Cook the pork for filling

   Season the pork loin with salt and pepper. In a small skillet, cook it in a little butter over medium heat until just cooked through, about 15 minutes. The meat should be cooked completely but not dried out. Let it cool completely before proceeding.

4. 4

   Make the filling

   Cut the cooled pork, prosciutto, and mortadella into small pieces. Pass them through a meat grinder fitted with the fine plate, or pulse in a food processor until you have a very fine, homogeneous mixture. Transfer to a bowl. Add the grated Parmigiano, egg, and nutmeg. Mix thoroughly with your hands until completely combined. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. The filling should taste balanced, with no single ingredient dominating.

   The filling must be fine. Chunky filling prevents proper sealing and creates air pockets that burst during cooking. Process it more than you think necessary.
5. 5

   Make the pasta dough

   Mound the flour on a wooden board or clean work surface. Create a well in the center large enough to hold the eggs. Crack the eggs into the well. Using a fork, beat the eggs gently, then begin incorporating flour from the inner walls of the well. Continue until the mixture becomes too thick to work with a fork. Use your hands to bring the dough together, incorporating most of the flour.

   Not all flour will incorporate. This is correct. The amount of flour a dough absorbs varies with humidity, egg size, and flour type. Trust your hands, not the measurement.
6. 6

   Knead the dough

   Knead the dough vigorously for 10 full minutes. Push it away with the heel of your hand, fold it over, rotate it, and push again. The dough will transform from rough and shaggy to smooth and supple. When done, it should feel like your earlobe when pressed. Not too wet, not too dry. Wrap tightly in plastic and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

   If the dough feels too dry, wet your hands with a few drops of water and continue kneading. If too sticky, dust with flour. Small adjustments only.
7. 7

   Roll the sfoglia

   Cut the rested dough into four pieces. Keep the pieces you are not working with covered. Using a hand-crank pasta machine, roll one piece starting at the widest setting. Fold it in thirds like a letter, rotate 90 degrees, and roll again at the same setting. Repeat this folding and rolling three times to develop the gluten. Then progress through the settings, rolling once at each, until you reach the second-thinnest setting. The pasta should be thin enough that you can see the shadow of your hand through it.

   The sfogline of Bologna roll by hand with a long mattarello. This takes years to master. A hand-crank pasta machine gets home cooks to excellent results. There is no shame in using it.
8. 8

   Cut the squares

   Lay the sheet of pasta on a lightly floured surface. Using a sharp knife or fluted pastry wheel, cut the pasta into 2-inch squares. Work quickly. Fresh pasta dries fast, and dry pasta does not seal. Keep cut squares covered with a barely damp towel.

9. 9

   Shape the tortellini

   Place a scant half-teaspoon of filling in the center of each square. Fold the square diagonally to form a triangle, pressing the edges firmly to seal. Expel any air as you seal. Bring the two bottom corners of the triangle together around your index finger, overlapping them slightly and pressing to seal. The peak of the triangle should flip up like a little hat. Set the finished tortellini on a flour-dusted tray, not touching each other.

   The filling amount matters. Too much and they burst. Too little and you taste only pasta. A scant half-teaspoon is correct for 2-inch squares. Adjust if your squares are different.
10. 10

    Finish shaping all tortellini

    Continue rolling, cutting, and shaping until all dough and filling are used. You should have approximately 150 tortellini. They can sit at room temperature for up to one hour before cooking. For longer storage, freeze them in a single layer on a sheet pan, then transfer to a freezer bag. They keep frozen for two months.

11. 11

    Cook and serve in brodo

    Bring the strained brodo to a gentle simmer. Taste and adjust salt. Add the tortellini, cooking in batches if necessary to avoid crowding. Fresh tortellini cook in 3 to 4 minutes. Frozen take 5 to 6 minutes. They are done when they float and the pasta is tender. Ladle the brodo and tortellini into warm shallow bowls. Pass freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano at the table. Serve immediately.

    The brodo should not be boiling when you add the tortellini. A gentle simmer cooks them evenly and prevents bursting. Roughly 20 to 25 tortellini per serving is traditional.

Chef Tips

• •Mortadella di Bologna is essential. It must be real mortadella from Bologna, with its distinctive aroma of myrtle and spice. American 'bologna' is not a substitute. It is an insult.
• •The filling can be made one day ahead and refrigerated. Bring it to room temperature before shaping, or it will be too stiff to portion.
• •Never cook tortellini in water. They are made for brodo. If you have leftover tortellini and no broth, make more broth. This is the correct solution.
• •In Bologna, on Christmas Day, families argue about whose tortellini are best. They are all correct. The argument is the tradition.

Advance Preparation

• •The brodo can be made three days ahead and refrigerated, or frozen for three months. It improves with a day of rest.
• •The filling can be made one day ahead and refrigerated. The flavors meld and improve.
• •Shaped tortellini can be frozen in a single layer, then transferred to freezer bags. They keep for two months. Cook directly from frozen, adding one to two minutes to the cooking time.
• •The pasta dough can rest for up to two hours at room temperature, or overnight in the refrigerator. Bring refrigerated dough to room temperature before rolling.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 400g)