Monkfish trees on a cream of courgettes and lemon zest
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Mantuan pumpkin tortelli
- Difficulty: Difficult
- Prep time: 60 min
- Cook time: 50 min
- Serving: 10
- Cost: Average
- Note + 30 minutes' rest for the pasta dough
PRESENTATION
Mantuan pumpkin tortelli carry a filling that stops most people the first time they taste it: pumpkin mixed with amaretti, mostarda, and Grana Padano DOP, pulled in four directions at once—sweet, sharp, savory, and faintly bitter—yet landing in balance. Chef Claudio Sadler calls tortelli di zucca alla mantovana his personal heart dish, and his version stays true to that traditional filling while adding the quiet refinements of a practiced kitchen: lemon zest worked into the butter and thyme dressing, and toasted sliced almonds scattered at the table.
The pasta needs to be pulled thin—that thinness is what lets the filling read clearly through each bite rather than getting buried under dough. The lemon zest in the dressing lifts the richness just enough to keep the dish from feeling heavy, and the almonds go on at serving specifically to hold their crunch against the soft filling underneath. Both details sit close enough to the Mantuan original that they feel inevitable rather than imposed.
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INGREDIENTS
- For the fresh pasta
- Type 00 flour 3 ½ cups (450 g)
- Remilled durum wheat semolina 1.8 oz (50 g)
- Egg yolks 10
- Eggs 2
- Fine salt to taste
- Extra virgin olive oil 1 ½ tbsp (20 g)
- For the filling
- Mantuan pumpkin 3 cups (750 g) - cleaned
- Mantuan mustard 6 ½ tbsp (100 g)
- Amaretti cookies 3.5 oz (100 g)
- Grana Padano PDO cheese 1.8 oz (50 g)
- Nutmeg to taste
- Fine salt to taste
- For seasoning
- Almond slices to taste
- Thyme to taste
- Butter 7 tbsp (100 g)
- Grana Padano PDO cheese 2.1 oz (60 g)
- Lemon peel 1
Preparation
How to prepare Mantuan pumpkin tortelli
To prepare the Mantuan pumpkin tortelli, cut the pumpkin into pieces and remove the inner seeds 1. Divide it into pieces 2 and transfer them to a baking tray 3.
Cover with aluminum foil 4 and bake for 40 minutes at 320°F in a preheated conventional oven. Meanwhile, take care of the fresh pasta: pour the flours onto the work surface 5, form the classic well in the center and add the whole eggs and the yolks there 6.
Add the oil 7, a pinch of salt 8 and use a bench scraper to gather the ingredients 9.
Once the eggs are absorbed, knead vigorously by hand 10 until you form a smooth, homogeneous dough ball and let it rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator 11. Retrieve the cooked pumpkin 12 and let it cool slightly.
Pulse the amaretti in a food processor until powdered 13. Remove the pumpkin skin 14 and place the pumpkin in the processor 15.
Process until you obtain a smooth purée 16, then squeeze it in a kitchen cloth so it loses excess liquid 1718.
Chop the mostarda 19, then transfer the pumpkin purée to a bowl, add the cheese 20 and the powdered amaretti 21.
Add the mostarda as well 22, season with salt 23 and mix 34.
Finally, flavor with grated nutmeg 25. Mix once more 26, transfer the filling into a piping bag and keep it in the refrigerator. Take the dough ball, separate a portion 27 and pass it through the roller of the pasta machine at the widest setting.
Fold the sheet onto itself 28 and pass it through the rollers again 29 until you reach a thickness of 1-2 mm. Trim the edges with a fluted pastry wheel and create pasta squares of 2 x 2 in 30.
Fill the center with a small heap of filling 31. Fold in half, bringing opposite corners together to form a triangle 32. Then join the two ends to create the typical tortello shape 33.
With these quantities you will obtain about 70 tortelli 34. As you form them, lay them on a floured tray 34. Now toast the sliced almonds in a pan and set them aside; they will be used to garnish the plates 35. Drop the tortelli into plenty of salted water and cook them until they float to the surface, which will take just a few minutes 36.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in the same pan where you toasted the almonds 37. Drain the tortelli into the pan with the butter 38 and scent them with thyme 39. Add some of the pasta cooking water to create a light sauce.
Season with grated cheese 40 and lemon zest 41. Serve the Mantuan pumpkin tortelli with the toasted almonds 42.
Storage
Tip
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