Tortelli di patate are the mountain filled pasta of the Mugello, the Apennine valley north of Florence. Squares or rounds of thin fresh egg pasta are folded around a filling of mashed potato worked with garlic, parsley and Parmesan, then boiled and dressed most often with a long-simmered meat ragù, sometimes of wild boar, or simply with butter and sage. Larger and more filling than most Tuscan tortelli, they were the feast-day pasta of a poor upland where potatoes, not meat, were what the land gave.
The tortello is the great festive pasta of the Mugello and the neighbouring Apennine towns north of Florence, where the potato filling is a mark of the mountains' old poverty. Potatoes reached these high valleys late and became a staple only through the nineteenth century, when they are said to have taken the place of the chestnut flour that had long been the bread of the Apennines; the cheap, filling tuber, stretched with garlic and parsley, gave poor households a Sunday pasta when there was little else. It is cucina povera raised to a feast, still made at home for holidays and village sagre and dressed with the ragù of whatever meat there was, and today it is listed among Tuscany's Prodotti Agroalimentari Tradizionali.
The pasta is thin but sturdy, and the potato filling is soft, fluffy and savoury with garlic and parsley. Under a rich meat ragù it eats as a warming, satisfying plate; with just butter and sage it is gentler, the sweetness of the potato and the nutty Parmesan coming forward. Either way it is comforting mountain food, more substantial than a ricotta tortello.
A good filling depends on how the potato is handled. Boiling gelatinises the starch inside the potato cells; if the hot potato is passed through a ricer or mashed while still warm the cells stay whole, so the filling is light and fluffy, whereas overworking or cold-mashing ruptures the cells and releases free starch, turning it gluey and dense. The egg pasta gets its strength from gluten developed by kneading and from egg proteins that coagulate in the boiling water, sealing the parcel and holding its shape. The cooked tortelli rise to the surface as their interior heats and expands, the classic sign that they are done. A long-braised ragù converts the tough collagen in the meat to gelatin, giving a sauce that clings to the pasta.
Variations
Within the Mugello and across the Apennine border the filling shifts from house to house: some cooks enrich the potato with a little ricotta, browned lardo or pancetta, nutmeg or a handful of grated cheese, and the pasta may be cut into squares or rounds. The dressing is the main variable, from butter and sage to a meat ragù, a wild-boar or duck ragù, or a mushroom sauce in autumn. Neighbouring Marradi and the Romagna side of the mountains keep closely related versions of the same potato tortello.
On the Palate
Where Tortelli di Patate del Mugello sits in the Italian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 1 hour
- 115 min
Make a fresh egg pasta dough from flour and eggs, knead until smooth and elastic, then wrap and rest.
- 230 min
Boil the potatoes in their skins until tender, peel them and pass through a ricer while still hot.
Watch outRice the potatoes while still hot — hot cells stay whole and the filling turns out light; mash them cold and the released starch makes it gluey and dense.
- 315 min
Gently fry the garlic in olive oil, then work it with the parsley, Parmesan and riced potato into a smooth, seasoned filling.
- 4120 min
Start the ragù: soften a soffritto, brown the minced meat, add wine and tomato and simmer long and slow.
- 515 min
Roll the pasta into thin sheets and cut into squares or discs.
- 620 min
Place a little filling on each, fold over and press the edges firmly to seal into plump parcels.
Watch outPress every edge firmly shut into plump parcels — a weak seal and the filling escapes into the boiling water.
- 78 min
Boil the tortelli in salted water until they rise to the surface and the pasta is tender.
Watch outThey're ready when they bob to the surface and the pasta is tender — that's the interior heating through and expanding.
- 85 min
Drain and toss with the ragù, or with melted butter and sage, and finish with grated Parmesan.
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