Christmas dinner en route to Italy: First courses

Our journey through Italy to compose a varied Christmas lunch by borrowing the typical dishes of the Italian regions continues. Here are two mouth-watering first courses .

1. In Emilia Romagna , when you think of cappelletti in broth , you think of the festive table!

Here are the ingredients for about 8 people. For the broth : half a capon, 1 kg of broth beef, 2 beef knee bones, 3 carrots, 1 celery stalk, 2 onions, 1 garlic clove, 2 cherry tomatoes, 1 bay leaf, 1 bunch of parsley, salt. To prepare the pastry you need 300 grams of flour and 3 eggs. For the filling you need 2 ounces of pork loin, 1 pound of Parma ham , 1 pound of mortadella , 1 pound and a half of grated Parmesan cheese, 1 egg, pepper, salt, nutmeg, a small piece of butter.

Prepare the broth and cook for at least two hours. Prepare the dough, work vigorously to create a ball and let it rest in the fridge wrapped in cling film. For the filling, sauté the pork loin in butter with a bay leaf. Once cooled, cut it into small pieces and blend it with the ham and mortadella. Then add the egg, Parmesan, nutmeg and pepper. Blend everything again. Season with salt. Roll out the dough until you get sheets that are not too thin. Cut the pasta into squares of 4 or 5 cm per side. Place a ball of dough in the center of each square and form the cappelletti. Once the cappelletti are made, filter the broth with a sieve, bring to the boil and dip the fresh pasta into it. Cook for about 7/8 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and serve the cappelletti in broth immediately. If desired, add a sprinkling of Parmigiano Reggiano.

1. Agnolotti del plin are a typical Piedmontese first course that certainly cannot be missing on the Christmas table! It is fresh pasta, similar in shape to small tortellini, filled with meat.

Here are the ingredients for about 4 people: for the pasta 200 g 00 flour, 1 medium eggs + 3 egg yolks. For the filling 200 g pork loin, 200 g veal pulp, 200 g spinach (or escarole), 8 g onion, 1 clove of garlic, 80 g celery, 2 carrots, 1 l. meat broth, 50 g grated Parmigiano Reggiano , 1 medium egg, nutmeg to taste, salt to taste, pepper to taste

Cut the meat into pieces and brown them in a saucepan with a drizzle of EVO oil . Add the other ingredients and brown for a few minutes, add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 2 hours on a low flame. Once cooked, leave to cool and then blend the meat by adding the Parmesan, egg and nutmeg, until the mixture is soft but rather dry. Prepare the dough and work it into a ball, wrap it in transparent film and let it rest for half an hour in a cool place. After the resting time, take a piece of dough (about 100 g) and roll it out to form a long strip of thin pastry. With a teaspoon arrange small balls of filling, spacing them by 2 cm, fold the dough over itself, pinch the edges with your fingers, seal them well and cut the agnolotti. Cook the agnolotti in the meat broth for three or four minutes, once ready serve with a sprinkling of Parmigiano Reggiano to taste.