It is the typical recipe of Tortello Cemasco, which is also prepared in Lodi, because during the Risorgimento, Lodi and Crema were a single province (1816-1860) and therefore many gastronomic specialties are practically identical. After a brief mention of the history of Lodi, I invite you to try these tortelli (similar also in the Mantua area). The recipe that I am illustrating today was kindly passed on to me by my friend Elena Mainardi from Crema…
Ingredients for fresh pasta
• 360 g of
Arifa organic flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Ingredients for the filling
• 250 g of amaretti biscuits
• 100 g of raisins
• 100 g of cedar
• 70 gr. of breadcrumbs
• 50 g of butter
• 50 g of Grana Padano
• 1 whole egg
• 3/4 chopped mints (mint sweets)
• a little broth to mix
• nutmeg to taste
Ingredients for the dressing
• 100 g of cream butter
• sage
• Grana Padano for grating
Preparation
We prepare the flour on the pastry board in a fountain shape and add the eggs, salt and oil, then we begin to knead until we obtain a smooth and homogeneous dough. You will feel how this flour is absolutely easy to work with under your hands. Once kneaded well, we wrap the dough in cling film and place in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes (it does not require a longer resting time as it contains less gluten).
Meanwhile, let's prepare the filling.
We put all the ingredients except the broth in the blender and start mixing and add the broth only if we see that the mixture is too hard (1/2 tablespoon is enough anyway).
Let the filling rest so that the ingredients blend together and roll out the pastry.
I left it a little thicker than necessary because I had no idea how this flour would behave; but honestly the next time I make a stuffed pasta I'll roll it out very thin... it's ok!
We form our tortelli in any shape we like.
Bring the water to the boil to cook the tortelli and in the meantime prepare the melted butter with the sage.
Dip the tortelli and cook to taste, plate and season with melted butter and Grana Padano.
