Tortelli di Zucca

The stuffed pasta of Mantua: sweet squash blended with crushed amaretti, mostarda di frutta, and Parmesan, sealed in thin egg pasta and dressed simply with butter and sage, a Renaissance balance of sweet, savoury, sharp, and nutty

Origin: Mantua, Lombardy, Italy

Tortelli di zucca are the defining dish of Mantua, the Lombard city of the Gonzaga court, and one of the most distinctive expressions of the northern Italian Renaissance kitchen. The filling is a study in deliberate contrast: the sweetness of roasted squash, traditionally the dense, ribbed zucca barucca or zucca mantovana, is set against the bitter-almond crunch of crushed amaretti biscuits, the mustard-fruit heat of mostarda di frutta (the candied fruit preserve in mustard syrup that is a speciality of nearby Cremona), and the salty depth of grated Parmesan. The result is sweet, savoury, sharp, and nutty all at once, a flavour profile that descends directly from the courtly cooking of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, when sugar and spice mingled freely with savoury dishes. The squash itself arrived in Italy among the very first American plants to cross the Atlantic, and the Po valley became the most creative centre of its cultivation in Europe. Tortelli di zucca are traditionally eaten on Christmas Eve in Mantua, a meatless feast-day dish, dressed with nothing more than melted butter and a few leaves of fried sage so as not to compete with the intricate filling. They are a dish that rewards restraint: simple to dress, but demanding precision and balance in the filling.

Ingredients

Pasta dough

300 g tipo 00 flour
3 large eggs

Filling

800 g dense, sweet squash (zucca mantovana, kabocha, or butternut), unpeeled, halved and deseeded
80 g amaretti biscuits, finely crushed
60 g mostarda di frutta (Cremona mustard fruit), finely chopped
80 g Parmesan (Parmigiano-Reggiano), finely grated
1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
salt, to taste

To dress

100 g unsalted butter
12 fresh sage leaves
extra grated Parmesan, to serve

Method

First make the filling. Roast the squash halves, cut side down, at 200°C for 40 to 45 minutes until completely soft. Scoop out the flesh, press it through a sieve or mash it very smooth, and leave to drain in a sieve for 30 minutes to shed excess moisture.
Mix the drained squash with the crushed amaretti, chopped mostarda, grated Parmesan, nutmeg, and a little salt. Taste: it should be sweet, savoury, and faintly mustardy all at once. Chill while you make the pasta.
Make the pasta. Mound the flour, make a well, add the eggs, and work to a firm dough. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic, then wrap and rest for 30 minutes. Roll out in batches to thin sheets, almost translucent.
Place teaspoons of filling at intervals along one half of each sheet, brush around them with water, fold the sheet over, and press out the air around each mound before cutting into squares with a fluted wheel. Seal the edges firmly.
Cook the tortelli in plenty of gently boiling salted water for 3 to 4 minutes, until they float and the pasta is tender. Meanwhile, melt the butter with the sage leaves until the butter is golden and the sage crisp.
Drain the tortelli gently, toss with the sage butter, and serve at once with a final grating of Parmesan.

Notes

The authentic Mantuan filling relies on the trio of squash, amaretti, and mostarda di frutta; the mostarda in particular is hard to replace, as its candied-fruit sweetness and mustard heat are central to the dish's character (a good Italian deli will stock the Cremona version). Some Mantuan recipes also add crushed mostarda mustard syrup or a little crushed dry biscuit to firm a loose filling. If making the pasta by hand feels daunting, fresh lasagne sheets can be used, though the texture will be thicker. The filling can be made a day ahead and keeps the assembly manageable.

The Gastrographer

Name: Tortelli di Zucca
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 2 h 10 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 300 g tipo 00 flour; 3 large eggs; 800 g dense, sweet squash (zucca mantovana, kabocha, or butternut), unpeeled, halved and deseeded; 80 g amaretti biscuits, finely crushed; 60 g mostarda di frutta (Cremona mustard fruit), finely chopped; 80 g Parmesan (Parmigiano-Reggiano), finely grated; 1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg; salt, to taste; 100 g unsalted butter; 12 fresh sage leaves; extra grated Parmesan, to serve

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