Schlutzkrapfen

Schlutzkrapfen are the South Tyrolean member of the wide Alpine family of stuffed pastas that straddles the Italian–Austrian border, where Italian, German and Ladin cultures meet. The exact origin is unrecorded, as is usual for regional farmhouse pasta, but the rye in the dough places it firmly in the Alpine grain belt rather than the wheat plains to the south. They go by several names across the region: Mezzelune («half-moons») in Italian, Schlutzer or Schlickkrapfen in German dialect, and Ravioli della Pusteria after the Val Pusteria, while the Ladin valleys have their own close cousins.

A thin, slightly nutty-tasting wrapper — the rye gives it a faint earthiness and a duskier colour than plain egg pasta — around a soft, green-and-white filling that is mild, milky and faintly tangy from the curd. Dressed only in golden butter and fresh chives, the dish is gentle and clean rather than rich. A good one has a thin, well-sealed edge and tender pasta; badly made, the seam is doughy and thick, or it splits in the water and loses its filling.

Rye flour is low in gluten, so it is cut with wheat flour and bound with egg to give the dough enough strength and stretch to roll thin and seal without tearing. The filling must be squeezed dry — wet spinach or loose curd would make the seam slip open and the parcels burst in the pot — and the edges are pressed firmly, sometimes brushed with water or egg, so they fuse as the starch gelatinises in the boil. They are cooked in gently simmering water, not a violent boil that would batter the seams apart, and lifted out the moment the pasta turns tender. Tossing them in browned butter adds nutty Maillard aromatics that lift the mild filling.