Jeni Wright, Eric Treuille, Le Cordon Bleu

Making Tortellini

Appears in
top 1000Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cooking Techniques
Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cooking Techniques

By Jeni Wright, Eric Treuille and Le Cordon Bleu

Published 1996

  • About
A speciality of Bologna, tortellini are supposedly modelled on Venus’s navel. Shaping them takes some time and practice, but they can be made a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator.
  1. Make and roll out pasta dough. Cut out rounds from the pasta sheets with a floured 7.5-cm plain ravioli cutter or pastry cutter. Keep rounds covered to prevent them drying out. Put a small spoonful of filling (see box) in the centre of each.

  2. Using a small brush, dampen the edges of the rounds with a little water. Then pick up each round in your hands and fold it in half, carefully pressing the edges of the dough together to form a sealed crescent around the filling.

  3. Wrap the crescent around one index finger, turning the sealed edge upwards at the same time. Pinch the pointed ends firmly together. As you make each one, put the tortellini between two floured tea towels while you make the others. Let them dry for about 1 hour.