The fresh filled pasta is a typical traditional Italian product, suitable for special occasions such as the holidays, but also for traditional Sunday lunches in the family. As per the egg pasta the filled pasta relies on natural and fresh ingredients, such as eggs, flour, salt and a filling of your choice, which usually varies depending on the habit and heritage of the area (Meat, Vegetables or Fish). The peculiarity of this type of pasta lies in the uniqueness of the ingredients that make the filling, which can vary significantly not only from region to region, but also from city to city and even from village to village, testifying the great Italian culinary variants and options.
Fresh filled pasta: The dough
The dough for fresh filled pasta may obviously change depending on the filling. As for the minced beef stuffing dough preparation is the same used for the classic fresh egg pasta (generally one egg every 100 grams of flour). Differently, for other types of fillings (vegetables, fish, etc.) it is necessary a softer and elastic dough able to swell to permit the filling (also softer than that of meat) to perfectly blend within the dough.
Unlike classic dough less eggs are needed - usually 6 per 1000 grams of flour. Add water to soften the dough. Fresh filled pasta dough can be made from a wide variety of flours and colored with vegetables or other ingredients.
Fresh filled pasta: The filling
Agnolotti, Cappelletti, Tortelloni, Ravioli with different fillings, are just some of the most common examples of fresh filled pasta. Fillings and ingredients are really various depending on the different regional and local culinary traditions. The minced beef filling is certainly the favorite and the most used by Italians. The meat may be beef, pork, rabbit or chicken. Over the past years also the fish filling became part of the Italian tradition. Usually the fish is minced - after being cooked in a pan with olive oil and wine) and then combined with other ingredients, occasionally with vegetables.
