Tortelli Filled with Chicken Liver, Spinach, and Ricotta

Name: Tortelli Filled with Chicken Liver, Spinach, and Ricotta
Ingredients: 1 pound fresh pasta dough, page 185; 1/2 pound fresh ricotta; 1 pound tender spinach leaves, tough stems removed; 1/2 cup chicken livers; 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil; 1/2 cup chopped onion; 1/3 teaspoon salt, or to taste; 1 large egg, beaten; 2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil; 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg; 1/2 cup freshly grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano; 4 cups Meat and Tomato Ragù (recipe follows); Freshly grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano; Extra-virgin olive oil, best-quality; A pasta-rolling machine and fluted pastry cutter to make the tortelli; A wide pot, 8-to-10-quart capacity, for cooking the tortelli; A heavy skillet, 14-inch diameter, or two 12-inch skillets, to sauce the full batch of tortelli; 1/2 cup dried porcini; 1 medium onion, in chunks (1 cup or more); 2 celery ribs, in chunks (about 2 cups); 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil; 1 pound ground veal; 1 pound ground pork; 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from the casing and crumbled; 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste; 2 cups red wine; 3 cups (or a 28-ounce can) canned Italian plum tomatoes, preferably San Marzano, crushed by hand; Meat, poultry, or vegetable stock, or water, as needed; Freshly ground black pepper to taste

December 14, 2011

Tortelli are ravioli by another name—a square, filled pasta. And though they vary greatly, like all pastas, tortelli often are filled with fresh ricotta and spinach or other greens, herbs, or vegetables. In Maremma, where carnivorous appetites rule, such a meatless approach is not typical. As you’ll find in this set of recipes, tortelli maremmani have meat inside and outside—and lots of it. Fried chopped chicken livers plump up the tortelli, in addition to ricotta and spinach. Once cooked, the tortelli are dressed with a typical ragù maremmano, made with three chopped meats slowly cooked in tomatoes. My friend Alma likes best boar, chicken, and pork, but here I call for veal, pork, and sausage, because I find that combination comes close to the complexity of the boar. Of course, if you can get boar, by all means use it. This is a great pasta, and worth all the stirring and stuffing. However, it is not necessary to make everything here and put the ingredients together in just one way. The components of tortelli maremmani give many options for delicious meals (and convenient advance preparation). For instance, it’s fine to make the filling and the pasta for the tortelli and leave the ragù for another day. You can sauce your tortelli simply with sage butter, pages 49–50, or just shower them with Tuscan olive oil and Pecorino Toscano. On the other hand, go right to the ragù recipe—skip the tortelli—and make this marvelous sauce to dress any pasta, fresh or dry, or polenta or gnocchi. Indeed, the ragù recipe makes enough for two or more meals. Toss a couple of cups of ragù with spaghetti for a fabulous (and fast) supper one night, and freeze the rest. It will still be perfect whenever you do get a chance to roll and fill those plump tortelli maremmani.

Recipe notes