Pumpkin Tortelli by Polly

Milan, IT


Fave Memory

My grandmother was born in Rivarolo Mantovano, a small village in the countryside near Mantua. When I was a kid, we used to go there (from Milan) to pick up pumpkins, in order to find the most delicious for our homemade tortelli.

Pumpkin-filled tortelli are a very ancient recipe from northern Italy, and a typical dinner for Christmas Eve in my family. My grandfather makes egg pasta on Christmas Eve morning or the day before. The filling, a mixture of pumpkin, amaretti biscuits, parmigiano cheese, mostarda, and nutmeg, is rather sweet than savory. We have them with butter and sage, but my father usually grills them in the oven with parmigiano on top, for some extra-flavour.