Homemade tortellini is a one of those recipe that screams Winter Holidays or Sundays with large family gatherings.

Homemade tortellini is definitely a recipe for those who want spend some time in the kitchen. So are you ready for some hours hands-on in the kitchen making something very good?

Throughout Italy, tortellini “in brodo” (with broth) is a must on Christmas. Nontheless you can also choose to boil, drain and season tortellini with some melted butter and sage or with a simple tomato sauce.

This is the perfect recipe you can prepare in very large batches, then freeze it and keep it ready to boil.

Health facts and meat-free homemade tortellini

Homemade tortellini are traditionally filled with meat, a mix of prosciutto, pork, veal or beef and mortadella. Nonetheless you can make a vegetarian version by using a filling made with ricotta and spinach or chards, or potatoes and vegetables. Those options are tasty and flavorful as meat, however they are not very suitable for cooking tortellini in brodo.

Health wise, choosing a vegetarian option will certainly improve the nutritional value of the pasta. Furthermore you’ll be adding vitamins, fibers and antioxidants and at the same time, reduce the fat content.

Additionally you can also choose to prepare the pasta with whole wheat flour or a mix of white and whole wheat for extra fibers.

Vegan tortellini

If you are vegan, you can still enjoy homemade tortellini! Prepare your home made pasta with water instead of eggs and use potatoes with vegetables like spinach or chards. You can also use potatoes or pumpkin to fill the pasta.

To make the pasta that wraps your meat filling, you can follow my recipe for homemade fresh pasta, and swap eggs for water to turn it into a vegan version.

How to store tortellini

I usually double the recipe to make more and keep it ready when I want to eat fresh pasta but have no time to prepare it. The best way to store home made fresh tortellini is freezing. You can prepare a large batch then put into the freezer on a wide dish. Then after a couple of hour, you can transfer them into a ziplock bag and back into the freezer for at least 6 months.

You can also keep tortellini in the fridge for up to three days.

TIP! When you cook frozen tortellini, take them out of the freezer and toss them into hot water. Do not add them to  boiling water otherwise the filling may spill and the tortellini will be ruined. The temperature shock can break the pasta. However if you use very hot water, it will be more gentle and no spilling occurs.

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Homemade tortellini

Learn how to make homemade tortellini! The following recipe is not the traditional Tortellini alla Bolgonese recipe. It is a little lighter in the filling but works perfectly with all seasoning.

Course Main Course, Pasta, Soup

Cuisine Italian

Keyword Italian tortellini recipe, tortellini, tortellini recipe

Prep Time 3 hours hours

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 3 hours hours 5 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

Ingredients for the pasta

• 3 eggs
• 300 gr superfine durum wheat semolina use all purpose flour if you cannot find durum wheat semolina

Ingredients for the filling

• 20 gr Italian or Spanish prosciutto
• 100 gr minced pork
• 50 gr parmigiano
• 1 italian sausage
• salt and pepper

For the chicken broth:

• Chicken bones
• 2 cloves
• 3 cardamom seeds
• 1 potato
• 1 carrot
• 1 stalk cellery
• 1 onion

Instructions

Prepare the broth

• in a large pot put all the ingredients for the broth, turn the heat on and bring it to a boil. Skim the scum and reduce the hit, and then simmer for at least 2 and a half hours.

  TIP: you can brown the chicken bones in the oven with a little oil for 30 minutes, as a result the broth will be tastier.
• Prepare the pasta following my recipe on How to make home made pasta using the three eggs instead of four.

Prepare the filling

• In a food processor put the prosciutto, minced pork, parmigiano, sausage a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Turn the processor on and mix evenly. You can add nutmeg if you like.

Make tortellini

• Flatten the dough (2mm) and cut it into 4/5cm squares. The smaller the squares, the hardest is to seal the pasta, so if you’re not expert you may want to cut larger squares in order to prepare bigger tortellini.

  As you get used to the preparation you can make them smaller. Experienced tortellini maker in Bologna cut it into 2cm squares!
• HOW TO CLOSE TORTELLINI: Pour half teaspoon of filling onto each square, lightly wet the sides to close them properly. Then take the square of pasta with the filling on one hand. Fold it to make a triangle. Push close the sides to seal them. Now seal together the two angles at the base of the triangle, keeping your finger inside to create the hole.
• When the broth is ready, sieve it into a smaller pan.
• Bring the broth to a boil and cook the tortellini for 3 to 5 minutes. Serve hot.