Bologna's festive green egg-pasta tortelloni—the dough tinted with spinach—stuffed with ricotta, mortadella, spinach and nutmeg, dressed with browned butter and sage. Named after Dottor Balanzone, the city's Commedia dell'Arte mask, and also known as 'tortelli matti', they are said to have originated from leftover tortellini filling.
Balanzoni belong to Bologna's festive pasta tradition, named after Dottor Balanzone—the Commedia dell'Arte mask representing a pompous, pedantic Bolognese lawyer, and the comic emblem of the city's self-regard. Historically consumed during Carnival season, the pasta's name is documented in 20th-century Bolognese culinary literature. Popular tradition holds that they originated as a way to use leftover tortellini filling (hence the alias 'tortelli matti'), though their distinctive spinach-green dough clearly differentiates them from the classic yellow tortelloni. No founding inventor or precise date of creation is recorded.
The vivid green pasta has a slightly richer, earthier chew than plain egg pasta; inside, the ricotta-mortadella filling is delicate, creamy and faintly perfumed with nutmeg. Browned butter and sage add a toasty, herb-scented coating that brings the mild filling into clear focus.
Spinach is blanched and squeezed dry to remove most of its water; residual chlorophyll binds into the gluten network during kneading, giving the dough its stable green colour—over-wet spinach weakens gluten development and causes grey-green discolouration on cooking. Mortadella's finely emulsified fat-and-protein matrix distributes flavour uniformly through the ricotta, preventing pockets of greasiness. Browning butter to beurre noisette at ~130–150 °C via Maillard reactions in the milk solids produces hazelnut-scented lactones and pyrazines; sage's volatile thujone and cineole bloom instantly in the hot fat, then mellow as the pasta absorbs the sauce.
Variations
A meat-free version replaces mortadella with extra ricotta and spinach only, bringing the flavour profile closer to a Florentine-style pasta. Some Bolognese preparations increase Parmigiano or use more nutmeg for a more assertive filling. A butter-cream sauce with Parmigiano is an alternative dressing, though purists favour the simpler browned butter and sage.
On the Palate
Where Balanzoni sits in the Italian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
7 steps · 1 hour
- 15 min
Blanch the spinach briefly in well-salted boiling water; drain immediately and refresh under cold water. Squeeze out as much moisture as possible, then chop very finely.
Watch outBlanch the spinach then squeeze it truly dry — over-wet spinach weakens the dough's gluten and greys the green; bone-dry keeps the color bright and the sheet strong.
- 245 min
Combine the squeezed spinach with 00 flour and eggs; knead vigorously for 10 minutes until the dough is uniformly green, smooth and elastic. Wrap in cling film and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- 310 min
Combine ricotta, finely diced mortadella, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and a generous pinch of freshly grated nutmeg; season lightly with salt and mix until smooth and uniform.
- 420 min
Roll the rested dough to a thin sheet (~1.5 mm); cut into circles or squares approximately 5–6 cm across.
- 520 min
Place a teaspoon of filling at the centre of each piece; fold into a half-moon and press firmly to seal, then bring the two ends around a finger and pinch together to form the rounded tortellone shape.
- 64 min
Cook the balanzoni in a large pot of generously salted boiling water for 3–4 minutes until the pasta is just tender.
- 75 min
Meanwhile, melt butter in a wide pan over medium heat until the milk solids turn golden and the aroma is nutty; add fresh sage leaves and let them crisp for 30 seconds. Drain the balanzoni, toss gently in the browned butter and sage, plate and finish with grated Parmigiano.
Watch outBrown the butter just until the milk solids turn golden and smell nutty, crisp the sage thirty seconds, then dress at once — push the butter darker and it tips from nutty to burnt.
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