Happy Tortellini day!
I was happy to see this one on the calendar, Tortellini is a family favourite in this household catering for the Veggie and the Carnivore within.
Tortellini is a stuffed pasta shape, said to be inspired by the shape of Venus’ naval having been spied upon by an innkeeper who was peeping through the keyhole. (creepy much?) The innkeeper was so in awe, he immediately ran to the kitchen and recreated his viewings in the egg pasta available. The inn situated in a Town called Castelfranco Emelia between Modena Bologna in Italy. Tortellini Day is still marked today with a parade in costume, drummers and flag throwers. A re-enactment of the peeping innkeeper is performed and the day has a festival family friendly feel.
Tortellini is enjoyed best when fresh and doesn’t reheat well which presents a challenge for me to include it on this weeks’ Fill Your Fridge menu. A Tortellini soup recipe presented the perfect solution to mark this auspicious day with our clients. Historically, Tortellini is served in a broth for absolute authenticity however, outside of Castelfranco, Tortellini sits beautifully in a cream based or tomato based sauce. I went for the Tomato soup option and used cheese filled tortellini.
Here is a link with great instructions on making your own tortellini.
How blessed are we in Northampton with The Italian Shop? Excellent and authentic produce can be found at The Italian Shop website. Adrianna has made an average corner on Ashburnham Road Northampton the perfect celebration of all things Italian since 2012 (ish). Offering deli takeaway currently and Hampers that can be personalised – making for wonderful gift. My birthday is April FYI….
When the world starts turning again, and we’re allowed out to play I highly recommend the Italian shop.
The expertise of Carmella who has run pop up restaurants from The Italian Shop and beyond. These are the safest pair of hands you’ll find in Northampton for instruction on how best to prepare an Italian meal. A successful author of five books on all things pasta another wonderful gift.
Unfortunately we cannot enjoy the delights of Nuovo but definitely something I will be looking forward to when safe to do so. Again birthday is April – just saying xx
Happy Tortellini Day
