How to Make Balanzoni | Bolognese-Style Stuffed Pasta Recipe

This recipe is a relatively recent innovation, born as a celebration of the classic flavors found in the cuisine of Bologna: most notably fresh spinach pasta, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and mortadella. Balanzoni resemble large tortellini but bring a significantly different flavor to the table. In our opinion, this is one of the best stuffed pasta recipes out there!

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Balanzoni Recipe

Makes: 3 to 4 servings

Cook Time: 2 hours

For this recipe, you will need:

• 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound (450 grams) fresh baby spinach, divided
• 1 ⅔ cups (200 grams) all-purpose or 00 flour, plus extra for dusting
• 2 large eggs, divided
• ⅔ cup (150 grams) ricotta
• 3 large slices of mortadella (70 grams), finely chopped
• ⅓ cup (30 grams) grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, plus extra for topping
• Salt
• Fresh black pepper
• Grated nutmeg
• 4 tablespoons (60 grams) unsalted butter

In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the spinach. Sauté until tender and wilted. Let it cool, then squeeze out the excess moisture and finely chop it.

On a large work surface, pour the flour into a pile and use your fingers to hollow out the center so that it resembles a volcano. Crack one egg into the center. Whisk the other egg in a small bowl and add ½ into the flour hollow (save the remaining half for use later). Also add half of the chopped spinach. Using a fork, begin whisking the egg/spinach and gradually incorporate the surrounding flour. When the mixture has thickened into a paste, you can begin folding in more of the flour and kneading by hand.

As you knead the dough, gradually continue to incorporate the remaining flour. You don’t need to add it all, though: eggs aren’t all the same size, so you might need less. Simply leave some flour aside if you achieve the right dough texture before it’s all kneaded in. The pasta dough should be fairly firm and springy, but soft enough to knead smooth. It definitely shouldn’t be sticky. If it does become sticky, simply dust it with more flour as needed.

Knead the pasta dough until it is smooth and even. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. In the meantime, you can prepare the stuffing.

In a mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, chopped mortadella, the remaining spinach, remaining beaten egg, and Parmigiano cheese, with a pinch of salt, pepper, and nutmeg. The filling should be soft and spreadable but not too wet. If it seems wet, add more grated cheese as necessary to soak up some moisture (you can never have too much Parmigiano Reggiano). Mix all together thoroughly and refrigerate for later.

Set up a pasta machine to roll the dough. Cut about ¼ of the dough off to work, but keep the remaining pasta dough wrapped in plastic so it doesn’t dry out. Flatten the dough beneath your palm into a small pancake and lightly dust both sides with flour.

Set your pasta machine rollers to the widest setting (#0 on a standard Marcato Atlas machine). Press one edge of the dough between the rollers while cranking the handle so that the pasta is pulled inward. Press the whole piece through and pull the resulting sheet of dough out from the bottom.

Adjust the rollers one setting narrower (from #0 to #1, for instance) and press the sheet through again. Repeat until you have rolled the pasta through the #6 or #7 setting (about 1 ⅓ millimeters). If your pasta, at any time, sticks to the machine, you can dust and rub it with flour. You can also cut the sheet in half if it becomes unmanageably long.

Cut the finished sheet(s) into 4 inch (10 centimeter) squares. Any leftover trimming can be added to the remaining pasta dough to roll again later. Place a heaping teaspoon of ricotta/mortadella filling in the center of each square.

Take one square and fold it in half diagonally to form a triangle over the stuffing. Push the air out and press the edges shut to seal the triangle. If working in a dry environment, you may need to dab the edges with water to make them stick. Take the two bottom corners of the triangle, bring them toward each other, and press them together. The result should be just like a big, jumbo-sized tortellino.

Arrange the finished balanzoni on a floured surface and repeat the steps above to roll, cut, and shape the rest of the pasta with the remaining dough and filling.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it generously. Add the balanzoni and boil for 3 to 4 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large pan over low heat. When the pasta is cooked, transfer it into the pan with a slotted ladle. Gently stir all together until the pasta is well coated in butter, then remove from the heat. Sprinkle extra Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese on top and stir again, then serve.

Buon appetito!