Balanzoni
bah-lahn-TSOH-nee
Also known as tortelli matti, green tortelloni.
Measured to scale. The illustrated portrait is in production.
Specifications
square or rectangular sheet folded and pinched into a filled tortellone-style parcel
What it is
Balanzoni are green stuffed pasta from Bologna, tinted by spinach worked into the egg dough rather than into the filling. They take their name from Dottor Balanzone, the commedia dell'arte mask of the city, and carry the second name tortelli matti, or mad tortelli. The recipe is modern, traced to the second half of the twentieth century and spreading through the 1980s and 1990s, said to have begun as a way to use up leftover green lasagna sheets and tortellone filling. The filling pairs ricotta with mortadella, Parmigiano Reggiano, and nutmeg.
Named for Dottor Balanzone, the commedia dell'arte mask of Bolognese origin representing the pedantic Doctor of Law. Treccani defines Balanzone as the name of the commedia dell'arte mask, of Bolognese origin, of the Dottore. Tradition holds the pasta took the lawyer's name because, like the talkative mask, it is a Bolognese specialty dressed up in green.
What sauce it wants, and why
The dough is rich and the filling soft, milky ricotta against salty cured mortadella and nutmeg, so the dressing stays light to let the parcel speak. Bologna's classic answer is melted butter and sage, which coats without competing. A dusting of Parmigiano or a thin Parmesan cream are the accepted richer turns.
Classic plates: balanzoni al burro e salvia.
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Closest swaps by sauce behavior, not by looks. The ones most easily confused with balanzoni, and how they read.
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