Tortelloni di Ricotta e Spinaci

Tortelloni are the larger cousin of tortellini — roughly twice the size — and represent a different branch of the Emilian filled pasta tradition. Where tortellini are a meat preparation served in broth, tortelloni are typically filled with ricotta and spinach (or, in autumn, ricotta and pumpkin in the Ferrarese tradition) and served with sauce. The distinction matters technically: the larger format means more filling relative to pasta, so the sfoglia can be slightly thicker than for tortellini without becoming doughy. The ricotta-spinach filling requires careful moisture management — the spinach must be cooked, squeezed thoroughly dry, and chopped fine before mixing with well-drained ricotta, egg, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and nutmeg. Excess moisture is the enemy: wet filling produces soggy tortelloni that burst during cooking. The forming technique uses larger squares (5-6cm), and the folding creates a plump half-moon or triangle shape, sometimes with the corners joined like oversized tortellini. The canonical sauce is burro e salvia — melted butter infused with sage leaves until the butter foams and the sage crisps — finished with Parmigiano. In Ferrara, tortelli di zucca (pumpkin tortelli) follow the same format but with a sweet-savoury filling of roasted pumpkin, Parmigiano, nutmeg, and crushed amaretti biscuits — a combination that is quintessentially Emilian in its embrace of sweet-savoury interplay.

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