This is a traditional recipe from the city of Parma and the small towns surrounding it. Tortelli di erbetta features delicate fresh pasta rectangles filled with ricotta and sweet chard.
On the evening of June 23, the eve of the feast of St. John the Baptist in Italy, people in and around Parma celebrate by dining al fresco with this dish.
The dish comes as a celebration of an eve, and therefore, that is without meat.
St. John the Baptist and the rituals of the summer solstice
Not to be confused with the Evangelist, the Baptist was Jesus’ cousin and an ascetic. When he was not fasting, he fed on insects and honey, which makes one smile if you think of how many recipes come in his honor. And that once he died, his severed head was laid right on a plate. Conceiving the plan was a trio of sad figures, Herod, Herodias, the dissolute wife of Herod’s brother, and Salome.
Since John the Baptist is a highly revered saint, we celebrate the day of his birth, June 24, and death, August 29.
The totality of rituals, including food habits, that celebrate John are the Catholic Church’s response to the pagan and peasant rites that have accompanied the summer solstice since ancient times. Over the centuries, a tasty mixture of sacred and secular customs grew up that still characterizes our time today.
Rituals related to fire and water have an obvious rural origin. But food is also always central in local festivals dedicated to the saint.
The so-called bonfires of St. John unite peasant Italy from north to south. On the longest day of the year, before the days become shorter, the bonfires, lit on the night of June 23, keep evil spirits and witches away.
For this reason, green walnut husks, soaked by nightly dew, are harvested on these days, aromatic and therapeutic, to make the Nocino, a typical digestive and balsamic liquor.
In another ritual, fresh herbs and flowers (St. John’s bunch; I wrote about it here) are placed in a basin entirely filled with water. People leave the bowl outdoors on the night of the 23rd to collect the night dew. The next day, they can use the water to wash their faces and hands for health and beauty.
St. John’s also opens the outdoor dining season, as in the famous tortellate held on the evening of June 23 in Parma and neighboring towns.
Tortelli di erbetta recipe
Chard, or another cooked green, is the main ingredient of the filling.
Clearly, you can also use spinach for the stuffing.
It is a traditional first course from Emilia that I knew but had never tasted. Then, in a book dedicated to the correspondence of the Parma aristocracy between the 1800s and 1900s, I found this description:
The envelope, rectangular in shape, is made of a thin sheet of dough. The filling is a happy mixture of ricotta cheese, eggs, Parmesan cheese, chopped green leaf (hence the name), and a thought of nutmeg.
And on that thought of nutmeg, I knew I had to make this first course.
So I made pasta dough and filling, I prepared some large tortelli, but you can make them smaller. I seasoned them traditionally with lots of butter and Parmigiano, which, as popular folklore says, should be drowned in butter and dried in cheese.
In the Parma area, people eat them on the evening of June 23, setting up large tables outside and waiting in good company for the night’s dew.
- I found a delicious Tortelli di erbetta recipe on Food52 by Josh Cohen. The chef used herbs in the filling, and I find that very interesting,
Buona cucina, Monica
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Tortelli di erbetta recipe
Ingredients
Filling
- 300 g of cow's ricotta cheese
- 100 g of grated Parmigiano
- 350 g of fresh chard or spinach weight vegetables yet to be cleaned
- 1 regular egg
- 1 g of nutmeg
- 3 g of salt
Pasta dough
- 300 g of 00 flour
- 3 regular eggs
Instructions
Filling
- Clean the vegetables, boil them in unsalted water, drain, and let them cool for about 30 minutes before wringing out the leaves.
- Clean the vegetables, boil them in unsalted water, drain, and let them cool for about 30 minutes before squeezing the leaves.
- After this time, squeeze the green vigorously to remove all the water and finely chop the cooking green with a knife.
- Combine and mix the filling ingredients with a fork in a bowl. Cover and let stand for 2 hours in the refrigerator.
Pasta dough and sheet
- Place the flour on the cutting board and form a well in the middle with your fingers. Ensure the well is large enough to take the required liquid.
- Shell the eggs in the well and beat them lightly with a fork.
- Then, using your fingertips or a fork, gradually incorporate the flour into the well in a circular motion until large breadcrumbs form, being careful not to break the walls of the well and lose the eggs. In this case, use a spatula to stop the run.
- From that point, knead the dough by hand on a clean surface until soft but firm, about 10 minutes.
- Cover with a bowl or wrap the dough in plastic film and allow it to rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to several hours. If storing overnight, refrigerate and bring back to room temperature before use.
- After resting, lightly flour the cutting board and dough to prevent sticking.
- Place the pasta dough in the middle of the cutting board and the rolling pin in the center of the pasta dough. Then begin to roll as you would a sheet of pastry, working from the center.
- Every 2-3 strokes of the rolling pin, rotate the sheet 90 degrees to give it an even shape. As the sheet becomes larger, don't fold it. Wrap it around the rolling pin to rotate it without breaking the sfoglia.
- Continue to roll from the center outwards, then back to the center. Hanging the sheet over the table's edge will help stretch the dough. Always turn the dough sheet around 90 degrees (do this by rolling the pasta sheet around your rolling pin and turning it) and continue to roll until you have reached the perfect smooth sfoglia sheet.
- Roll out a thin sheet of dough.
Tortelli assembling and cooking
- Cut out strips of pasta sheet 6-7 cm wide, then place one tablespoon of filling every 3 cm. Fold the pasta sheet back on, press gently around the filling to let the air escape, and use a pasta cutter wheel to cut out the tortelli. If there is too much excess sfoglia along the edges, remove it by cutting it away.
- Dry the tortelli on a floured tray for thirty minutes to an hour, turning them over.
- Bring a pan of water with salt to a boil. Add in tortelli and cook for 5-6 minutes.
- While the tortelli are cooking, melt plenty of butter in a pan.
- Arrange half the melted butter on the serving dish and sprinkle with Parmigiano.
- Then, with a slotted spoon, remove the tortelli from the boiling water, place them on the dish, and cover them with the rest of the melted butter and as much Parmigiano as you like.
Food tips
- Store any leftovers in a covered dish in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
- If you want to freeze the pasta for later use, let the tortelli rest outside the refrigerator for 30 minutes, then blanch the pasta for two minutes, drain, let cool, and use fingers greased with olive oil to lightly rub the tortelli so they don't stick, and freeze. When ready to use them, cook them by dipping them in boiling salted water.
