Tortelli
tor-TEL-lee
Also known as tortello, tortelli di zucca, tortelli d'erbetta, tortelli maremmani.
Measured to scale. The illustrated portrait is in production.
Specifications
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
What it is
A tortello is a flat sealed parcel of egg pasta, usually a square or rectangle about 2 to 3 cm on a side, and the filling changes with the region rather than the form. In Mantova and the wider Po plain the parcels hold pumpkin blended with crushed amaretti, mostarda mantovana, and grated grana, a sweet and savory mix served with melted butter and cheese. Around Parma the tortelli d'erbetta carry ricotta and chard, a dish tied to the eve of Saint John in late June. In the Tuscan Maremma the tortelli maremmani run larger and rest on ricotta and spinach. Treccani and both Italian and English Wikipedia treat tortelli as otherwise called ravioli, the broad northern square stuffed pasta, distinct from the small ring tortellini and from tortelloni, the augmentative larger ring.
Tortello is the diminutive of torta (cake or pie), formed with the suffix ello, per Wiktionary and Treccani. The plural is tortelli. Treccani defines a tortello as a small savory or sweet pie of a double layer, usually quadrangular at 2 to 3 cm per side, of egg pasta for the savory kind, filled with ricotta, greens, cheese, or pumpkin. Wiktionary notes that in several regions tortello and ravioli name the same thing.
What sauce it wants, and why
The filling leads and the dressing stays light. Melted butter with sage is the standard finish, often with grated grana on top, and it suits both the pumpkin and the ricotta versions. A plain tomato sauce works for the herb and cheese fillings. A meat ragu is the heavier traditional option, used sparingly so it does not bury a sweet squash filling.
Classic plates: tortelli di zucca alla mantovana, tortelli d'erbetta di Parma, tortelli maremmani con ricotta e spinaci.
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Closest swaps by sauce behavior, not by looks. The ones most easily confused with tortelli, and how they read.
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