“Cappelletti” (little hats) are considered as the “stuffed egg pasta” par excellence in Romagna but it is very easy to confuse “cappelletti” or “tortellini bolognesi ” and you should know that they are quite different!!
“Cappelletti” are typical stuffed egg past from Romagna called also “caplet”. Their shape reminds a medieval hat. The sheet of pastry is cut in little square pieces and then half fold in order to obtain some triangles which extremities should be closed very well .
Stuffing is made up of soft cheese, Parmesan cheese and nutmeg. No meat and cooked in chicken broth.
“Tortellini bolognesi”
According to a legend, a “short-sighted and Bolognese innkeeper” created the tortellini inspired by the navel of either Venus or Lucrezia Borgia, just as Zefirano is said to have invented “Tagliatelle” inspired by the latter’s hair. What is certain, however is that in 1550 the Bolognese Senate recorded in their agenda that a so-called “de torteleti “- soup, presumably a forerunner of today’s tortellini was served to 16 tribunes of the people. In 1842 the French traveler Valery wrote about a particular dish of pasta filled with minced beef, egg, yolks and Parmesan cheese.
The official recipe was registered on Dec. 7 1974 when the CONFRATERNITA DEL Tortellino and the Accademia Italiana della Cucina deposited it at Bologna Chamber of Commerce: The ingredients are a sheet of 6/10 mm thick pastry made of flour and egg, with a filling prepared with minced pork, raw ham, mortadella from Bologna, Parmigiano Reggiano, cheese, eggs and nutmeg. According to tradition tortellini are best enjoyed cooked and eaten in a savoury capon or hen broth.
Would you like to know which I prefer? Of course both tortellini and cappelletti! How can we resist to so much tastiness? They are very very good!