+ 10 hours braising time

For filling

Peel and chop the onion, carrot and celery stalk.
Melt the butter in a pot, preferably earthenware, and then add chopped vegetables. Then add the meat and clove. Once the meat begins to brown, cover with red wine and a little warm water. Cook over low heat for about 10 hours, adding the tomato paste halfway through cooking.

Once done cooking, the meat will have dissolved into a dense sauce. Then mix together the sauce, breadcrumbs, grated Parmigiano Reggiano, eggs and a pinch of nutmeg. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.

For pasta

The following day, make the pasta dough by mixing together the eggs, flour and water. Knead together until the dough is smooth, then roll out with a rolling pin or pasta machine until it is as thin as possible.

Stretch out the dough on a flat work surface, then place small balls (about the size of a hazelnut) of the meat filling on the pasta dough about an inch away from one another.

Fold the sheet of pasta in half to cover the filling, making sure that the edges stick together well. There should be no air in the anolini, otherwise they may open during cooking.

Then cut the pasta using a circular pasta cutter, so that in the center of each anolino there is just one ball of filling.

Cook the anolini in boiling beef broth for 5 minutes. Serve hot.

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Food History

The first recipe for anolini, a direct descendent of ravioli, was published in a book written by Bartolomeo Scappi at the beginning of the 16th century. The famous cook explains that anolini were created by home cooks and that he only codified the recipe, probably enriching the dish with other ingredients.

Even if anolini started out as a dish of the common people, this stuffed pasta quickly became a favorite of the nobility. Many sources indicate that in the 17th century, anolini were served at the banquets of the noble people of Parma.

In come cases, the nobility not only enjoyed eating anolini, but preparing them as well. Duke Ferdinand I of Bourbon was known to make the pasta and the filling and assemble the anolini with the help of his daughters.

Over the centuries, anolini continued to be served both by the nobility and lower classes during the holidays. The pasta became a typical dish of Parma and was even included in Pellegrino Artusi’s famous Italian cookbook published at the end of the 19th century.

Other suggested recipes

• Tortellini (Traditional Filled Pasta)
• Ricotta and Sage Tortelli
• Lunigiana-style Ravioli with Chard