Tortelli alla Maremmana

Maremma-style Tortelli

Duration: 2 h

Difficulty: medium

Region: Toscana

Maremma-style Tortelli are a typical recipe from southern Tuscany and more precisely from the Maremma, a vast area that extends into the province of Grosseto. This dish is perhaps the most representative of this area. Tortelli, in fact, are loved by all Maremma inhabitants, tortelli are prepared both in homes where there is a good housewife or in restaurants in the area, and everyone requests it in large quantities. There are also fairs and festivals to act as an environment for this beloved dish. Dish of peasant origin, where the strictly egg pasta is hand-rolled, the stuffing is made with aromatic herbs and ricotta and to season everything, a meat sauce cooked over a very low heat, enriched with herbs. Once the tradition wanted it also accompanied by chicken livers.

Ingredients

For 4 people:

For the preparation of tortelli pasta:

• 300 g of flour 00
• 100 g of durum wheat semolina
• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• salt

For the preparation of the tortelli filling:

• 500 g of mixed Ricotta
• 250 g of boiled chard
• 2 eggs
• Nutmeg
• 4 tablespoons of grated Pecorino
• 1 lemon zest
• salt

For the seasoning:

• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 stick of Celery
• 100 g of minced pork
• 150 g of minced beef
• 50 g of chicken livers
• 1 glass of red wine
• 500 g of peeled tomatoes
• Extra virgin olive oil
• salt

How to Proceed

Let’s start with the preparation of the pasta.

Prepare a pastry board on which to work the dough comfortably. Pour the flour making sure to form a fountain. Make a hollow in the center and shell the eggs, a spoonful of oil and a handful of salt inside.

Begin to knead, first gently using the tips of your fingers, so as not to let the egg come out of the hollow and incorporate it well into the flour. Once everything is incorporated, start kneading gradually more and more energetically for about 15 minutes. Processing must be vigorous to allow the paste to acquire sufficient elasticity.

In the end you will get a smooth, homogeneous and elastic dough. Form a ball, wrap it in transparent film and place it in a cool place to rest for at least 1 hour.

We can move on to preparing the meat sauce for tortelli alla Maremma

Take the carrot, celery and onion, and after having washed them, chop them finely thus obtaining a mixture.

Take an earthenware pan (if you don’t have one, a saucepan is fine), add a drizzle of oil and add the chopped onion, celery and carrot. Start frying the herbs, then once golden, add the minced chicken livers, brown them for about a couple of minutes and then add the minced pork and beef. Brown everything until all the meat has browned well (about 6-7 minutes) then when the cooking liquid that comes out of the meat has dried, blend with the glass of wine.

Continue to brown until the wine has completely dried and then add the peeled tomatoes. Season with salt and continue cooking over low heat for about 1 hour. Cover with a lid.

Now let’s think about preparing the filling.

Take the beets, wash them and remove the bad parts. Then boil them in a pot with not too much salted water, to prevent the flavors of the chard from being lost too much. Once cooked, drain and after drying, chop finely.

Take a bowl and put the chopped chard in it, add the ricotta (before putting it you can pass it through a potato masher), then the eggs, the spoons of pecorino. Then give a grating of lemon zest and nutmeg. Also adjust with salt. Mix everything with a wooden spoon until the whole mixture is homogeneous.

Let’s go back to the pasta which will have rested in the meantime. We flour the pastry board and begin to roll it out by hand forming two thin sheets. On one add some portions of filling helping you with a spoon. Make sure that the various portions of filling are arranged in piles at a distance of about 4 centimeters from each other.

Once all the portions have been arranged, cover the first sheet with the second sheet, matching the edges. Then with a toothed wheel, cut the various tortelli into a rectangular shape.

Take a pot of water and boil it. Add coarse salt to the boil. After about a minute add the tortelli, being careful not to break them. After about 5 minutes they should be ready to drain.

Season them with the meat sauce you have prepared and serve piping hot. Generally, the tortelli are first served without the sauce and then subsequently covered, one separately from the others, with a portion of meat sauce.