Italian · Mantova

Tortelli di Zucca Mantovani con Burro e Salvia

Mantova's ancient sweet-savoury pasta — half-moon pasta filled with a mixture of roasted Mantovana pumpkin (butternut squash is an acceptable substitute), crushed amaretti biscuits, mostarda di Cremona (fruit mustard), Parmigiano Reggiano, and nutmeg. The filling is a time capsule of medieval Lombard court cooking — sweet (pumpkin, amaretti), sharp-hot (mostarda), savoury (Parmigiano), aromatic (nutmeg) all coexisting in a single bite. Dressed only with sage-scented brown butter.

ServesFour portions

Sourced0of 10 in BC

Cook

The Market List

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For the filling

500 g

Mantovana pumpkin (zucca mantovana)

dark-green variety; butternut squash is an acceptable substitute

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

60 g

amaretti di Saronno

bitter variety only; crushed to a coarse powder, not paste

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

2–3 tbsp

mostarda di Cremona

diced small

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

60 g

Parmigiano Reggiano

finely grated; 36+ months for service shaving

Your own market

¼ tsp

nutmeg

freshly grated

Your own market

For the pasta

300 g

tipo 00 flour

Your own market

eggs

whole, at room temperature

Your own market

For the dressing

120 g

unsalted butter

Your own market

fresh sage leaves

whole

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

To finish

Parmigiano Reggiano 36+ months

shaved at service

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

The Method

Halve the pumpkin and place cut-side down on a lined baking tray. Dry-roast in a hot oven until the flesh is completely tender and any surface moisture has evaporated. The flesh must be dry to the touch when pressed — no pooling liquid.

Scoop the roasted flesh and pass it through a fine sieve or mouli. Spread the purée on a clean tray and allow any remaining moisture to continue evaporating at room temperature. The purée must hold its shape when a spoon is drawn through it — this is where the dish lives or dies: a wet filling will dissolve the pasta and collapse the sweet-savoury balance entirely.

Combine the dry pumpkin purée with the crushed amaretti, diced mostarda di Cremona, grated Parmigiano Reggiano, and freshly grated nutmeg. Mix thoroughly. The filling should be cohesive and firm, holding a clean quenelle shape. Rest overnight in the refrigerator, covered — the flavours integrate and the texture firms further.

From the canon — Cremona's preserved fruit condiment: whole or large-cut candied fruits (figs, cherries, pears, melon, apricots) suspended in a clear, sugar syrup fiercely sp… Mostarda di Cremona →

Work the flour and eggs to a smooth, elastic pasta dough. Rest, wrapped, for at least 30 minutes at room temperature. Roll to a thin sheet — approximately 2 mm. The sheet should be supple and semi-translucent when held to light.

Stamp or cut rounds from the pasta sheet. Place a small mound of filling at the centre of each round, fold to a half-moon, and press the edges firmly to seal, expelling any air. The seal must be tight and even — no trapped air pockets visible along the seam.

Cook the tortelli in generously salted boiling water. They are ready when they rise and float and the pasta at the thickest seal point yields cleanly to a fingernail without resistance.

While the tortelli cook, melt the butter in a wide pan over medium heat. Continue cooking, swirling, until the solids turn a deep hazelnut brown and the kitchen carries a distinct toasted-nut aroma. Add the sage leaves — they will crisp immediately. The butter must be genuinely brown, not pale gold: the hazelnut note is the structural counterweight to the sweet filling.

Lift the tortelli directly into the brown butter. Toss gently to coat. Plate and finish with shaved Parmigiano Reggiano 36+ months. Serve immediately — the pasta continues to absorb butter as it sits.

III

Quality Hierarchy

Reserve — True zucca mantovana (dark-green, deeply orange-fleshed); amaretti di Saronno of the bitter, dry variety; mostarda di Cremona from a Cremonese producer with whole candied fruit and full mustard-oil heat; Parmigiano Reggiano aged 36+ months, grated fresh.

Estate — Butternut squash dry-roasted with extended oven time to replicate the low-moisture flesh of the Mantovana variety; reputable branded bitter amaretti; good imported mostarda di Cremona; Parmigiano Reggiano 24 months.

Market — Butternut squash; any dry bitter amaretti; mostarda di frutta of whatever origin available; aged Grana Padano in place of Parmigiano.

House — Butternut squash; soft sweet amaretti (accept the loss of bitterness and reduce quantity); a grainy Dijon mustard in place of mostarda (accept the loss of candied fruit sweetness); Parmigiano Reggiano of standard age.

Sensory Tests

◇Touch. Roasted pumpkin flesh yields completely under light pressure and feels dry — no moisture transfers to the finger.

◇Sight. Pumpkin purée holds a clean furrow when a spoon is drawn through it — no liquid seeps into the channel.

◇Touch. Finished filling holds a firm quenelle shape and does not slump or weep liquid onto the tray.

◇Sight. Pasta sheet is thin enough to be semi-translucent when held briefly to light.

◇Sight. Sealed tortelli show no trapped air pockets along the pressed edge — the seam is flat and even.

◇Touch. Cooked tortelli yield cleanly at the thickest point of the seal under a fingernail — no raw resistance.

◇Smell. Brown butter carries a pronounced hazelnut aroma — not simply melted fat, but a deep toasted-nut note indicating genuine caramelisation of milk solids.

◇Where it lives or dies. The filling must be completely dry before the pasta is assembled — residual moisture from the pumpkin, mostarda syrup, or cheese will soften and eventually dissolve the pasta walls, destroying both the structure and the medieval sweet-savoury balance the dish exists to preserve.

V · Cross-Cuisine Parallels

Bergamasco casonsei: Lombard filled pasta using beef and crushed amaretti — the same medieval sweet-savoury integration preserved in a neighbouring tradition (La Cucina Mantovana, Thread). Persian khoresh kadum: sweet squash combined with sharp-sweet preserved fruit in a savoury preparation — the medieval Persian and Italian court kitchens share an identical structural principle (La Cucina Mantovana, Thread). Moroccan bastilla: savoury meat enclosed with almond and sweet-spice elements inside pastry — the same medieval court sweet-savoury tradition, preserved independently in both Mantovano and Moroccan cuisine (La Cucina Mantovana, Thread).

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What to Pour

The pairing

Clase Azul Reposado

Clase Azul Spirits · Jalisco — Tequila

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Agave spirit

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The whole pairing

VII · Origin & Lineage

Mantova, Lombardia. The dish is documented in La Cucina Mantovana — Principesca e Popolare (Accademia Italiana della Cucina, Mantova) as a direct inheritance of the Gonzaga ducal court kitchen. The combination of sweet pumpkin, almond-bitter amaretti, sharp-hot mostarda, and aromatic spice reflects the medieval Lombard court cooking tradition in which sweet, sharp, savoury, and aromatic elements coexisted within a single preparation — a flavour architecture largely abandoned elsewhere in Italian cuisine but preserved intact in Mantova.

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