Pasta by region
Pasta from Emilia-Romagna
Emilia-Romagna is where pasta means egg and a rolling pin. The region's defining craft is the sfoglia, a sheet of egg dough rolled thin by hand by the sfoglina, then cut or folded while it is still supple. Bologna cares enough about the result that the ideal width of a cooked tagliatella was registered with the local chamber of commerce. From the same sheet come the stuffed shapes the region guards by name: tortellini pinched around a navel of pork and Parmigiano, the larger tortelloni, and cappelletti folded like little hats. Garganelli are ridged on a comb, strozzapreti rolled between the palms, and farfalle pinched at the waist. The dressings stay close to the dough: butter, ragu alla bolognese, and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
The shapes of Emilia-Romagna
| Shape | Family | Section | Cook (min) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anolini | Stuffed | small round disc or crested half-moon parcel stamped from egg sheet, edge smooth or serrated, a single mound of filling sealed inside | n/a |
| Balanzoni | Stuffed | square or rectangular sheet folded and pinched into a filled tortellone-style parcel | n/a |
| Cappellacci | Stuffed | a square of egg sfoglia folded over a squash filling and pinched into a peaked hat, larger and coarser than cappelletti | n/a |
| Cappelletti | Stuffed | filled hat-shaped parcel | 4 |
| Farfalle | Shaped shorts | rectangle pinched at the center | 11-14 |
| Garganelli | Hand-formed regional | ridged egg tube rolled on a comb | 2-4 |
| Gramigna | Shaped shorts | short curled hollow tube | 9-11 |
| Maltagliati | Sheets and broad cuts | irregular offcut of flat pasta | n/a |
| Pisarei | Hand-formed regional | small thumb-pressed dumpling with a hollow on one side, gnocchetto-like, rolled from a thin rope and cut bean-sized | n/a |
| Strozzapreti | Hand-formed regional | hand-rolled twisted strip, irregular | 8-10 |
| Tagliatelle | Ribbons | flat ribbon | 5-10 |
| Tortelli | Stuffed | two sheets of egg sfoglia sealed around a filling into a flat square or rectangle, the regional fillings change but the flat sealed parcel does not | n/a |
| Tortellini | Stuffed | sealed ring, a square of sfoglia folded into a triangle over the filling, then wrapped around the finger and pinched closed | 3 |
| Tortelloni | Stuffed | square folded into a stuffed parcel | 3-5 |
