Agnolotti

Agnolotti are a traditional filled pasta from Piedmont: two sheets of egg pasta, square or slightly rectangular, with a meat-based filling. According to the Piedmont region's sheet for traditional agri-food products (PAT), they are still a characteristic first course of Piedmontese cuisine, traditionally eaten on special occasions. In parts of southern Piedmont they are called "gobbi" ("hunchbacks") because of the shape they take when cooked.

The regional sheet gives a basic recipe. Dough: 350–400 g of flour, 4 eggs, salt and a spoonful of oil. Filling: 400 g of beef (or mixed meat) roasted in butter and/or oil, and 200 g of boiled greens (usually cabbage, spinach or chard), all chopped together, preferably with grated cheese and an egg or yolk. Variants add pork, chicken or rabbit; in the Canavese a little boiled rice is added. Small mounds of filling are placed on a thin sheet of dough about 2 cm apart, covered with a second sheet, pressed around the mounds to push out the air and cut with a toothed wheel. This most common method leaves the agnolotto cut on four sides, the typical shape of Turin; in Monferrato and the Alessandria area a rectangular shape cut on three sides is more common, made by folding the dough over a row of filling.

Agnolotti are boiled in salted water and dressed as desired: with meat ragù, roast juices (sugo d'arrosto), butter and sage, and so on. They can also be eaten in broth. In the Saluzzo area and the Langhe it is a habit to serve them undressed on a napkin. The sheet also records a variant, agnolotti di "Pom Matan" from San Sebastiano Po, filled with an old local apple variety cooked in butter with fresh pork sausage and Grana Padano.

The sheet distinguishes agnolotti from ravioli by the filling: agnolotti always contain meat, while ravioli are made without it. Fresh agnolotti keep in the refrigerator for 2–3 days.