Tortellini in Brodo Recipe by Massimo Bottura

Massimo Bottura makes an appearance in the CNN travel show Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, in which the actor eats his way around the peninsula in order to learn about the country’s past and present through the medium of food. “If you don’t believe in God here in Modena,” says the ever-ebullient chef Bottura, "you believe in tortellini... It’s like a religion.”

While the last stop was Rome and the Eternal City’s famous four pasta dishes, this time Tucci visited one of the sacred sites of Italian food, the city of Bologna in the region of Emilia-Romagna. The region is the birth place of ragù, mortadella and of course in Modena - the region’s second city - the tortellini in brodo (tortellini in broth) is a Sunday ritual enjoyed by every family.

Typically, the tortellini for the recipe are small, dumpling-like pasta packets of meat or ricotta and spinach, and are served al dente and floating in a light, vegetable and meat broth of layered flavours.

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“Your grandmother’s tortellini is always the best tortellini,” says Lara Gilmore in the clip, which holds true for any Italian. The tortellini in brodo that is eaten at home has a magical power for Italians, it is comforting and evocative of all their best family memories of the Sunday lunch table.

Tortellini in brodo is not difficult to make, but as with all Italian food, it is deceptively simple, and special attention must be paid to detail and technique. Master it, however, and you will have a special magic recipe that can bind a family together forever. Try it for yourself.

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