TUSCAN FOOD
Mamma Margherita’s tortelli with wild boar
“I fondly remember the way my mother would prepare this wild boar sauce," says Daniele Sera, chef at Castello di Casole, A Belmond Hotel, Tuscany. “She paired it with her homemade pappardelle. It is one of my most cherished childhood memories.” Chef Sera twists his family’s traditional recipe with a touch of modern flair, adding Stracchino cheese and shavings of indulgent truffle. Tuscan food never tasted so good.
Wild Boar Tortelli
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 500g wild boar (loin or leg)
- 2 carrots, finely chopped
- 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
- 1 onion, minced
- 1 bay leaf
- Cloves, to taste
- Juniper berries, to taste
- Fresh rosemary, to taste
- Fresh sage, to taste
- Red chilli pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons tomato puree
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 60g / 2 oz Pecorino Senese cheese (use Parmigiano if unavailable)
- 1 bottle of red wine (we recommend a good Sangiovese)
For the pasta
- 200g / 1 ¼ cups ‘00’ flour
- 200g / 1 ¼ cups durum wheat semolina
- 4 eggs
To serve
- Stracchino cheese
- Black truffle
To drink
- Castello di Casole Sì di Sì wine, or a good Sangiovese
Method
- Wash the wild boar meat with running water. Leave it soak for 2 hours in fresh cold water with 1 teaspoon of salt. Repeat this process three times, so that the meat has soaked for 6 hours in total.
- Marinate the wild boar in red wine with rosemary, sage, garlic, juniper berries and clove for 12 hours. Afterwards, retain the red wine liquid.
- After your meat has marinated, make your fresh pasta. Combine all the ingredients to make a dough.
- Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- Sauté the carrots, celery, onion, garlic and chilli with a splash of olive oil.
- Cut the meat into small pieces and add it to the pan.
- When the meat is well glazed, add the red wine you used to marinate and cook until reduced. Add the tomato purée. If it starts to look dry, add a little hot stock.
- Let the mixture cool a little, and then blend it.
- Take your pasta dough and roll it out very thinly. Cut your pasta into 3-inch rounds.
- Fill the pasta. Put a teaspoon of filling in the middle, seal the tortello with another circle of dough, and then bring two edges together. Watch the video below for shaping guidance.
- Cook the tortelli in boiling water for 5 minutes.
- Serve the tortelli with melted Stacchino cheese and thin slices of Black truffle.
Buon appetito!
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