tortellini, tortelloni, tortell...acci?

the first pasta I ever made, with taleggio and balsamic

Tortellini. Tortelloni. Tortell..acci? We’re all familiar with the tiny spoon-huggers and their sauce-loving brothers, but you might be surprised to learn that this duo is, in fact, a trio. Tortellacci are the biggest of the bunch, typically fashioned from 4-inch squares, stuffed to the brim with cheese, and sauced with butter or tomatoes. And although they’re pretty obscure—only found in Emilia-Romagna—tortellacci have a particularly special place in my heart: These were the first stuffed pasta I learned how to make. If you have a copy of my cookbook and you’ve read (okay, skimmed) the introduction, you might remember the story about the pasta my husband and I made with a lovely woman named Barbara at her home in Modena—in short, the day pasta became my passion. It was during this unforgettable morning that we made (badly) and ate (well) our first tortellacci, simply dressed with butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Barbara’s family’s traditional balsamic vinegar. It remains some of the best pasta I’ve ever had.

My first tortellacci, at Barbara's house (very bottom left; cooked on the right). Or, proof that we all start somewhere.

It’s taken me almost seven years to revisit this special shape, but the moment feels right. Today’s recipe is the second installment of my collaboration with Bona Furtuna featuring their traditional aged balsamic vinegar, a festive follow-up to my panzanella pasta salad from July. Now, as I did then, I’m using the brand’s wonderfully versatile Invecchiato IGP balsamic vinegar, and let me be clear: The balsamic is no afterthought. It’s present both in the cooking and the finishing, and its acidity and fruitiness is an essential counterpart to this dish’s rich savory (taleggio), bitter (radicchio), and sweet (honeynut squash) notes.

I’ll admit this recipe is a little fancy, a little more involved than my usual fare. That’s because it’s inspired by a meal I recently enjoyed at one of Washington, D.C.’s best restaurants (my opinion, though you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who disagrees), Lutèce. For all the zillion pretty French restaurants taking over this city, Lutèce is the one you’re actually looking for: Small and elegant, like a Parisian apartment or a West Village mainstay, with food that’s exceptionally delicious, always-surprising, and still somehow casual. They’re known for their Caesar-ish charred napa cabbage, Parisian gnocchi, and honey semifreddo covered in wild curls of Comté cheese, but many of the dishes change regularly. On my latest visit, I tucked in to a plate of velvety honeynut squash lazing in a pool of melted taleggio and draped with a blanket of syrup-glazed radicchio. It was, indeed, exceptionally delicious, a little surprising, and casually elegant. If you’re not prepared to commit to such a project, or prefer another flavor profile, you can, of course, use this as a guide and fill and sauce your tortellacci with whatever you’d like.

A few notes:

• Honeynut squash is my favorite winter squash on the market. It looks like a shrunken butternut, but it has a much sweeter flavor and compact texture (perfect for pasta fillings!). Although it was once only available in farmer’s markets, it’s now being produced more widely; if you can’t find it, I might suggest kabocha squash for its drier texture, but butternut will do in a pinch.

• If access to high-quality balsamic vinegar is not an option, check out my balsamic reduction recipe here, which can be used instead.

• Because tortellacci are so large, I’d suggest about four pieces per serving, give or take. This would also make an impressive first course for a dinner party.

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Honeynut Squash Tortellacci with Taleggio, Radicchio & Aged Balsamic

Serves 4 (makes about 18 tortellacci)

For the filling

900 grams (2 pounds; about 4 small) honeynut squash
30 ml (2 tablespoons) extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Whole nutmeg
8 to 10 fresh sage leaves
30 grams (1 ounce) finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more to taste

For the pasta*

250 grams (approx. 1⅔ cups) ‘00’ pasta flour or all-purpose flour
50 grams (approx. 5 tablespoons) semola rimacinata or semolina flour
170 grams eggs (approx. 3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk)

For the balsamic-glazed radicchio

15 ml (1 tablespoon) high-quality balsamic vinegar, plus more for serving
15 ml (1 tablespoon) honey, plus more to taste
Kosher salt
15 ml (1 tablespoon) extra-virgin olive oil
115 to 170 grams (4 to 6 ounces; about ½ small head) red radicchio, cored and chopped into 1-inch strips

For the fonduta & serving

170 grams (6 ounces) rind-free taleggio, cut into ½-inch cubes
180 ml (¾ cup) heavy cream, plus more as needed
Kosher salt
115 grams (½ cup; 1 stick) unsalted butter
75 grams (½ cup) hazelnuts, toasted, peeled, and coarsely chopped**

*This is a slightly smaller batch of dough due to the amount of filling used for each piece of tortellacci. If preferred, you can use my typical egg pasta dough recipe and either use the leftover dough for other pasta, or make 1½x the filling.

**To prepare the hazelnuts, toast them for 8 to 10 minutes in a 375°F oven, transfer them to a clean tea towel, rub them together until most of the skins peel off—don’t worry if you can’t get them all—and coarsely chop.

For the filling

Heat the oven to 425°F. Trim the squash stems, carefully halve them lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Drizzle with oil and season generously with salt, pepper, and freshly grated nutmeg. Stuff each empty seed pocket with a few sage leaves.

Roast, cut-side down, for about 20 minutes, then flip and continue to roast cut-side up until very tender caramelized around the edges, 20 to 25 minutes more. Let cool completely.

Remove and reserve the sage. Scoop out the squash flesh (discard the skins) and blot dry between paper towels to remove as much moisture as possible (you should be left with about 400 grams of squash). Transfer to a food processor, along with the reserved sage and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Process until smooth and adjust seasoning to taste, adding more Parmigiano if you’d like.

Transfer the filling to a bowl or piping bag and refrigerate until chilled and ready to use, at least 2 hours and preferably overnight.

For the pasta

Make the dough: Make the dough by hand or in a food processor according to the directions in this post. Let it rest, tightly covered, at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.

Set up your workspace: Set up your pasta machine. Line a sheet pan or tray with parchment paper, or dust it with a thin layer of coarse semolina.

Roll the pasta sheets:
Cut off a third of the dough and re-wrap the rest. On your work surface, flatten the section of dough with your palm into an oval-shaped pancake that’s about ¼-inch thick. Press the dough between your fingers to thin it out as needed. If it feels tacky, dust the dough with some ‘00’ or all-purpose flour.

Set your pasta machine to its widest setting. Position one tapered end of the oval in the center and roll it through once—you should be left with a longer, thinner oval.

Position the dough lengthwise on your work surface. Then fold the two tapered ends into the center like an envelope so the length is the same or similar to the slot of the pasta roller (about 6 inches; it doesn’t matter if the tapered ends overlap or if there’s space between them). Flatten the dough again with your palm/fingers so it’ll go through the machine easily.

Line up the bottom edge of the pasta envelope with the edge of the machine (the folded ends should run horizontally). Roll the dough through the machine on the same (widest) setting a second time—you should be left with a rectangular-ish piece of dough (it’s okay if the ends aren’t perfect!).

Continue rolling the dough through the machine one time on each progressive setting until you have a thin sheet, dusting with ‘00’ or all-purpose flour as needed (on both a Marcato Atlas 150 and KitchenAid machine, I roll the dough to setting 7).

Cut the pasta into squares:
Once you have a long, thin sheet of pasta, lay it horizontally on your work surface. Trim the ends of any uneven areas, then ball up the scraps and wrap them in plastic to rehydrate. If you don’t have a wooden work surface, dust some flour on the bottom of the pasta sheet or your countertop to prevent sticking.

Cut the pasta sheet into roughly 4 to 4½-inch squares, either with a bicycle pastry cutter or by hand. For the latter, use a pasta wheel or sharp knife to trim about 1 inch off each of the sheet’s longer sides, then cut crosswise to create individual squares (just eyeball it). Add any trimmings to your scrap ball.

Fill and assemble the tortellacci (see video above!):
Pipe or spoon a heaping tablespoon of filling in the center of each square, leaving a generous rim of dough around it. If the dough feels dry, dot a dot amount of water across two adjacent edges of each square.

Fold each square into a triangle, pressing out the air around the filling as you do so. Once the filling is encased, press the edges firmly between your fingers once more to seal and thin out the dough (I like to do this on my work surface, as pictured below).

Position one of the bottom corners of the triangle between your index finger and thumb so they echo its angle. Fold the sides inward like a book, meeting at the center, and pinch firmly so it looks like a little “tail” with a wrinkle at the base of the filling pocket. Repeat on the other side.

Use your thumb to create a gentle curve along the filling pocket, pushing the filling so it concentrates toward the triangle’s point. Then bring the two “tails” together, overlapping them a bit, and press firmly to flatten and seal.

Arrange the finished tortellacci in a single layer on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.

For the balsamic-glazed radicchio

If you’d like, soak the radicchio, trying not to separate the leaves too much, in cold water for 30 to 60 minutes to soften some of the bitterness. Drain and pat dry thoroughly with paper towels.

In a small bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, honey, and a pinch of salt.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Add the oil; when hot, arrange the radicchio leaves in as much of a single layer as possible. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally but not stirring, until slightly wilted and golden on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, pour the vinegar-honey mixture over the radicchio, and stir to combine. Adjust seasoning to taste with salt (and a touch more honey if you’d like).

Transfer the radicchio to a bowl and set aside. Wipe out the pan—you’ll use it again shortly.

For the fonduta & serving

Start bringing a large pot of water to a gentle boil.

Add the cream and taleggio to a medium saucier or saucepan. Warm over medium-low heat, whisking often, until the cheese starts to melt. Reduce the heat to low and whisk constantly until creamy and the cheese fully melts, adding another splash of cream to loosen as needed. Season to taste (you might not need any salt!) and keep warm over low heat, whisking occasionally to prevent a skin from forming.

In same skillet you used for the radicchio, add the butter and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until it begins to smell nutty and turn golden, about 5 minutes. Add the radicchio and residual vinegar mixture, as well as the hazelnuts, and cook until the butter deepens a bit more in color, 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.

When the water is boiling, carefully drop in the tortellacci and stir for a few moments to prevent sticking. Cook until the pasta is tender, about 3 minutes, depending on size and thickness (always taste-test!). When the pasta is almost done, return the butter sauce to medium heat.

With a spider sieve or slotted spoon, scoop the tortellacci out of the water and transfer them to the pan with the butter, radicchio, and hazelnuts. Toss until the pasta is well-coated.

To serve, ladle a generous layer of taleggio fonduta onto a warm platter (or divide among plates), then spoon over the tortellacci, some more of the butter sauce, a bit of radicchio, and plenty of hazelnuts. Finish with a generous drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Enjoy immediately.