Wild Garlic and Ricotta Tortellini in Parmesan Brodo

⏱ 150 min · Serves 4

Silky handmade tortellini stuffed with vivid wild garlic and lemony ricotta, floating in a golden broth coaxed from Parmesan rinds. It tastes like the first warm day of spring — delicate, savoury and quietly show-off.

Per serving: 565 kcal · 26.0g protein · 51.0g carbs · 28.0g fat

Ingredients

• For the Parmesan brodo:
• 150g Parmesan rinds (plus any hard offcuts)
• 1.5 litres cold water
• 1 onion, halved
• 1 leek, split and washed
• 1 celery stick
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 strip lemon peel
• Sea salt, to taste
• For the pasta dough:
• 250g 00 flour
• 2 whole eggs plus 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Pinch fine salt
• Semolina, for dusting
• For the filling:
• 100g wild garlic leaves, washed
• 250g ricotta, drained overnight
• 50g Parmesan, finely grated
• 1 egg yolk
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Grating of nutmeg
• Salt and white pepper
• To finish:
• 40g unsalted butter
• A few young wild garlic leaves, shredded
• Extra Parmesan, to grate

Method

1. Make the brodo: put the Parmesan rinds, water, onion, leek, celery, bay and lemon peel in a pan. Bring barely to a simmer and cook very gently for 1 hour, skimming occasionally. Strain through a fine sieve, season lightly and set aside — it should taste deeply savoury, not salty.
2. Make the dough: mound the flour on a board, make a well and add eggs, yolks, oil and salt. Bring together with a fork, then knead 8–10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Wrap and rest 30 minutes at room temperature.
3. Blanch the wild garlic for 15 seconds in boiling salted water, refresh in iced water, squeeze bone dry and chop finely.
4. Beat the ricotta with the Parmesan, egg yolk, lemon zest, nutmeg and chopped wild garlic. Season well and spoon into a piping bag.
5. Roll the dough in batches through a pasta machine to the second-thinnest setting — you should just see your hand through it. Keep the rest covered.
6. Cut 6cm squares. Pipe a hazelnut of filling into each, brush two edges with water, fold into a triangle pressing out air, then wrap the two long points around your fingertip and pinch to seal. Rest on semolina; you should get around 40.
7. Warm the brodo to a gentle simmer. Cook the tortellini in a wide pan of well-salted boiling water for 2–3 minutes, until the seams are tender.
8. Meanwhile melt the butter in a pan until nutty, then add a ladle of brodo to emulsify.
9. Lift the tortellini into the butter emulsion, roll gently to coat, then divide between warm shallow bowls. Pour the hot brodo around them at the table, scatter with shredded wild garlic and grate over Parmesan.