RGFE

Directions

For the filling

Cut the pork loin and mortadella into small pieces. Remove the fat from the Parma ham and cut it into pieces. Place the pork loin, mortadella and ham in a food processor and finely chop everything to obtain a smooth mixture. Place the mixture into a large bowl, add the grated Parmesan cheese, nutmeg, salt and 1 egg. Knead everything with your hands until the ingredients are well mixed. Cover and refrigerate.

For the broth

Peel the carrots and onion and cut into chunks, along with the celery.  Take a non-stick pan with high sides: pour in plenty of water and add the cleaned capon (singe it if necessary to remove remaining feathers). The water should completely cover the capon. Add the carrots, onion, celery and peppercorns. Cook on a very low heat for about 3 hours, adding the canned cherry tomatoes after 1 ½ hours and keep skimming the broth: the capon should be tender when cooked.

While the capon is cooking, prepare the fresh pasta.

Put the flour into a large bowl, beat the eggs (at room temperature) with a fork and add to the bowl. Knead the ingredients with your hands, or a fork if you prefer, until you create a smooth mixture, and then shape into a ball. The dough should be sufficiently elastic: if it is too hard and difficult to knead, you can add a little lukewarm water; if it is too sticky, add more flour, but not too much to avoid the opposite effect. Wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest at room temperature, away from draughts, for at least 30 minutes. Take the rested dough and divide it in two. Lightly dust one piece (keep the other covered with cling film so it doesn’t dry out) with semolina and roll it out with a rolling pin or a pasta machine until you have rectangles about half a centimetre thick. The width of the dough should be 8cm. Repeat these steps for the second piece. Place the pastry sheets on a work surface lightly dusted with semolina, cut into 4cm squares. Then spoon the filling in small balls onto each square. To make each tortello, take one corner of the square and fold over to the opposite corner to form a triangle. Take care to remove all the air, press the edges and seal the triangle, and then form the shape of the ‘tortello’ by folding the two corners together so that they meet and press together to bind them.

Steam the tortelli and once cooked, strain the hot broth and ladle into deep soup bowls, add the tortelli, and garnish with fresh herbs, if you wish.