Tortellini is a type of
stuffed pasta typical of the Italian cities of
Bologna
Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
and
Modena
Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025.
A town, and seat of an archbis ...
, in the Emilia-Romagna region. Traditionally it is stuffed with a mix of meat (pork loin,
prosciutto,
mortadella
Mortadella () is a large made of finely hashed or ground cured pork, which incorporates at least 15% small cubes of pork fat (principally the hard fat from the neck of the pig). It is traditionally flavoured with Black pepper, peppercorns, bu ...
), Parmesan cheese, egg, and nutmeg and served in
capon broth ().
Origins
The origin of tortellini is disputed; both
Bologna
Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
and
Modena
Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025.
A town, and seat of an archbis ...
, cities in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, claim to be its birthplace.
The etymology of is the diminutive form of , itself a diminutive of ().
The recipe for a dish called appears in 1570 from
Bartolomeo Scappi.
Vincenzo Tanara's writings in the mid-17th century may be responsible for the pasta's renaming to tortellini. In the 1800s, legends sprang up to explain the recipe's origins, offering a compromise.
Castelfranco Emilia, located between Bologna and Modena,
is featured in one legend, in which Venus stays at an inn. Overcome by her beauty, the innkeeper spies on her through a keyhole, through which he can only see her navel. He is inspired to create a pasta in this shape. This legend would be at the origin of the term (), occasionally used to describe tortellini. In honour of this legend, an annual festival is held in Castelfranco Emilia. Another legend posits that the shape comes from Modena's architecture, which resembles a turtle.
File:Tortelliniinbrodo.jpg,
File:Tortellini.jpg, Industrially-made tortellini, easily recognizable for the extremely regular cut of the dough and the symmetrical closing of the extremities
Comparison with
is pasta in a similar shape, but larger, typically 5 g, vs. 2 g for tortellini.
Barilla US (manufacturer) FAQ
/ref> While tortellini has a meat-based filling, is filled with ricotta and sometimes with parsley or spinach. Moreover, while tortellini is traditionally cooked in and served with broth, is cooked in water, stir-fried (traditionally with butter and sage), and served dry.
See also
* List of pasta
There are many different varieties of pasta. They are usually sorted by size, being long (), short (), stuffed (), cooked in broth (), stretched () or in dumpling-like form (). Yet, due to the variety of shapes and regional variants, "one man's ...
* Pelmeni
* Tortelli
*
References
External links
Hand-made tortellini original recipe by a cooking school located in Bologna
Hand-made tortellini in brodo how-to, with video
Tortellini production video
From the rolled out egg-rich and flour pasta dough, stuffed with a mix of meat, the hand made production of tortellini (navel-shaped pasta) - video
{{Pasta
Cuisine of Emilia-Romagna
Types of pasta