In the words of Michael Pollan, “…I serve the kind of food I know the story behind.” For my family the story behind tortellini is tradition. The tradition for us was at Christmas. My grandparents had 10 children and every year they would have a tortellini marathon, making a table full of torts to be cooked in homemade chicken broth for Christmas dinner. On the day itself, the tables all held bowls of freshly grated Parmesan, my grandfather’s homemade Jardiniere, fresh bread, butter and olive oil. And, for dessert my grandmother’s cannoli. She filled hers with a custard, not ricotta. It was a simple, homemade comforting meal and it was DELICIOUS!
I love tortellini! They always tasted so good to me and the fact that we could only get them one day a year made us all appreciate every last one. I feel so fortunate to have a large family and so many of us are so proud of our heritage that we want to see this tradition continue with us and our children. Starting this year, the grandchildren will pick up where our parents left off. I cannot wait for this day! In the meantime, I’m changing things up from the family recipe and putting my own spin on tortellini.
I like to draw my inspiration from tradition as well as ingredients. My ingredients on hand included shiitake mushrooms*, baby mustard greens* and goat chorizo*. These are also ingredients that I know the story behind. I visit the farms and talk to the farmers. I even lend a hand!
To wrap up my tale of tortellini, I prepared a shiitake mushroom and shallot** filled tortellini, with goat chorizo and garlic** braised mustard greens in chicken broth. I did not intend to serve them in a broth, but my boys insisted that was the only way to eat them. 🙂 They were right!
FUN FACT: I was curious about tortellini’s origin and was amused to find that the inspiration behind the shape of the tortellini was the result of an innkeeper peeping through the keyhole of a door to a woman’s room whose beauty captivated him. He became spellbound by her navel; rushing to the kitchen, he created a tortellini in it’s image. What a great backstory! Also, tortellini originated in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy in the Province of Modena. My grandmother’s grandfather was born in Modena in 1863. It was really cool to be able to look back and find this! About 30 years ago my Aunt and I traced our family tree as far back as 1782, so that I could earn a badge in the Girl Scouts. 🙂
*shiitake mushrooms, mustard greens and goat chorizo were all sourced from Mill River Farm, Mill River, Massachusetts. The mushrooms and greens are Certified Organic and the goat chorizo is Certified Organic and PASTURED!
**shallots and garlic were grown using organic practices at The Garlic Farm, West Granby, CT.
@ Tina's Table 