Filled pastas: what are they, and what’s their backstory
When we say filled pasta, we’re using this expression to describe any number of specific pasta shapes. Typically these pasta shapes are made with fresh dough, and are filled with a variety of stuffings (meat, vegetables, mushrooms, eggs, cheese, etc.).
Agnolotti, anolini, cappelletti, culurgiones, cappellacci, cappelloni, casoncelli, calcioni, marubini, orecchioni, pansoti, panzerotti, tortelli, tortellini, tortelloni, and schultzkrapfen: these are all the evolutions of fresh filled pasta born from the classic Raviolo.
A critical part of the Italian gastronomic landscape since the 16th century, this term can actually be applied to the entire field of filled pasta as a kind of overarching general title for this type of classic Italian pasta selection. Thanks to the ambition of 16th century Italian court chefs, the popularity of Raviolo dishes spread out throughout the country from their initial base in the courts of Milan and Mantua.
While the Northern areas tended to continue favoring a classic meat stuffing, as the dishes gained popularity in the warmer, Southern regions, the fillings were modified to suit local tastes.
As the Raviolo became more popular in the Southern regions, particularly towards the 19th century, the pasta became popular as a rich, specialty dish served occasionally. The stuffing took on local preferences, with regional cheeses and vegetables taking palates by storm and becoming the more popular fillings. The 20th century brought about the definite twilight for the raviolo-agnolotto-tortello form without exterior pasta dough, as today all the variants are enclosed by a thin layer of pasta.
The ensuing shapes are as diverse as the imagination allows: square or rectangular, triangular or semi-circular. The shapes can be cut with a pasta wheel, or pinched closed with the chef’s fingers. Shapes can be obtained using a toothed pasta mold, or can be sealed with ends of the shapes that come together and can be closed with a spike or twisted like a candy wrapper.
Each area with its own raviolo specialty will also feature a speciality closure of the dough, and in a country with such strong emphasis on regional cooking, this individuality is not surprising.