TORTELLINI in BRODO

or as my Italian grandmother would call it: chicken soup with tortellini... but we're making it my way w/ my homemade bone brodo + (semi) homemade torts

While I can certainly wax on poetically about my love for tortellini in brodo, and how eating it for the first time in a trattoria in Italy years ago took me right back to my childhood in my grandmother’s kitchen, and I can continue on and on about all the wonderful things about the simple pleasure that is stuffed pasta swimming in the most flavorful, nourishing broth.

But, what I really want to talk about here is my love for actually making this for myself at home. The process, the ritual of this recipe is what I truly love. This was THE very first recipe I started making on my own, and kept making, over and over. It became my cold winter weekends ritual, to go out and buy all the ingredients to make my broth, and to then construct the soup. One of the main ingredients being these handmade tortellini that I would purchase from the Italian grocer in my neighborhood. They were tiny and filled with equal parts meat and cheese, and they reminded me of my grandmother and the ones she used to make. And although it added a level of indulgence to the soup, it felt to me more like a comforting form of nourishment. A sort of hug from my grandmother from another lifetime.

My chicken soup has remained a steadfast staple (as any chicken soup should), but has taking different forms over the years. It wasn’t until recently when I was working the recipes for my new cookbook: SIMPLE PLEASURES, that I was taken back to my chicken soup with tortellini or tortellini in brodo days, which were the best chicken soup days by far. And when I thought about all the simple pleasures that have graced my life, this version of this chicken soup was top on that list. So I decided that it absolutely needed to be in the book.

The version that is in the book is a little different than this one, and because I aim to keep things simple, I leaned towards a more semi-homemade recipe that I used to make back in the days when I had that amazing Italian grocer near where I lived. Since I now live 2 hours outside of a city in Mexico now, I don’t have the luxury of purchasing homemade tortellini, so it became time I got into the ritual of making my own.

So I started making tortellini, first by making fresh pasta dough, all by hand. And while that is lovely and romantic, it’s a lot of work. I don’t mind that kind of work, but one day out of convenience and time, I decided to make this using some leftover gyoza wrappers I had in the fridge. Yes, the asian kind to make dumplings, and they work perfectly. It kept the process still feeling almost totally homemade, but the ease of the dumpling wrappers made it a little more relaxing while keeping the romance aline. A perfect weekend project, where I can make double / triple the amount of tortellini and pop them in the freezer for when I wanted to enjoy, but with less effort.

Tortellni en brodo / chicken soup with tortellini is the ultimate high/low simple pleasure. It can be as homemade or as pre-made as you want it to be. You can make it all from scratch, or you can use store bought bone broth and OR tortellini. But no matter how much effort you put into it upfront, I feel you can always achieve the same pleasurable, nourishing, comforting, delicious result.

P.S. My book: Simple Pleasures: Incredibly Craveable Recipes for Everyday Cooking
just became available for pre-order!! The release date is May 27, and if you order now the book will be shipped to you on the release date. Pre-orders are the best way to support cookbook authors, and are key in helpings a book’s success, so if you have enjoyed my recipes here, online, or the previous cookbook, then a pre-order would be the ultimate gift that I would be so grateful for.

You can pre-order, AND see a little preview HERE.

TORTELLINI in BRODO

As you will see, this is by no means a traditional recipe, but a simplified version that I (hope) my grandmother would approve of. In places such as the broth and the tortellini filling, my purpose of simplifying was 2 fold, for ease, but also for achieving pure flavors and tastes. I like to make my broths and the tortellini filling simple by using just a few high quality ingredients that yield great flavor. I could (and probably should) write a whole post on broth making alone, but if you have any questions about my method here or generally, you can always send me a DM.

*Can serve up to 4, or one with easy freezable leftovers
Makes 12-16 tortellini + about 2 quarts of broth

INGREDIENTS

For the bone broth (brodo):

1 white onion, sliced into quarters
several cloves of garlic, smashed
around 8-9 cups of water
around 1k or 2lbs of bone-in chicken breast (I use one that has the 2 breasts with the bone in the middle, so if you can’t find that, then use 2 separate bone-in breasts)

2-3 tablespoons of salt (to taste)
a couple of sprigs of thyme
a Parmesan rind

For the tortellini:

250g of ground chicken or pork (or a combination)
1/2 cup + of grated parmesan cheese
1 large egg
salt (about 2 finger pinches of kosher salt) and some freshly cracked black pepper
about 20 dumpling wrappers (I like to have some extra in case they break or you mess up or have some extra meat)

For serving the soup: some grated parm and freshly cracked black pepper. Also (optional) a handful of finely chopped greens such as spinach added to the heated broth right before serving.

METHOD

TO MAKE THE BROTH
(this is done in 2 parts: to poach the chicken + then make the flavorful broth)

POACH the chicken :

Place the onion, garlic and water in a large pot and bring to a boil. It is important that you do NOT add salt at this point, as it affects the cooking of the chicken. We will season all later.

Bring to a boil, then add the bone-in chicken breast, allow it to come to a boil again, cover, and remove from the heat. Set a timer for 25 minutes. At 25 minutes, remove the chicken. It should be perfectly tender and cooked through, but if you want you can use a thermometer to check (150F).

PREPARE the bone brodo:

Allow the chicken to cool a bit until you’re able to handle. Then, remove the meat from the bones and set aside in a bowl until you’re ready to serve (or cover and place in the fridge if you’re not serving for a bit). Return the bones to the water, and now you add the salt, thyme (and any other herbs you might want to use) and the parmesan rind. Cover (this is important so the water does not totally evaporate) Simmer on low heat for a couple of hours, while you prepare your tortellini. Check in on the broth every now and then. If the water does evaporate, just add in more to reach the level it was at. You can adjust the salt too if that feels necessary.

PREPARE THE TORTELLINI:

MAKE the filling:

In a medium mixing bowl, add the ground meat, parmesan, egg, and season with salt and pepper. Stir until all is combined.

(***A little trick if you want to taste the seasoning of your meat but you aren’t comfortable eating raw meat, then you can take a tiny spoonful of the meat and cook it quickly on a small pan. Then adjust and seasoning you feel is necessary. I sometime like more parm in my mixture, so it feels like half meat and cheese.)

Place the dumpling wrapper onto a clean, flat surface. Add about a teaspoon of the ground meat mixture (see the photo above, you don’t want to add too much otherwise it will spill out the edges when you form the tort).

Then, dab your finger in some water and wet the outer edge of the dough wrapper. Fold in half and firmly press the edges so they seal. Lastly, take the two corners and fold them to touch each other, and dab a little more water there to seal them tightly together. Set the formed tortellini onto a clean plate, and continue until you have used all of the ground meat mixture. If you find you have extras, these freeze super well in an airtight container or bag.

COOK THE TORTELLINI in the BROTH + serve:

After your broth has been simmering for a couple of hours, give it a taste and see if needs any additional salt. If it is to your liking, strain it from the vegetables etc, and then add it back to the pot. Lastly, add back in the shredded chicken breast meat.

Bring it to a gentle boil and add in the tortellini. Cook for 5-7 minutes, you will know they are done when they float to the top. If you are adding greens, you can add them when you’re cooking the tortellini.

Ladle the broth and tortellini into a bowl, and finish with some parmesan cheese and freshly cracked black pepper.

As mentioned, any extras can be frozen, by my recommendation is to freeze it separately. You can freeze the broth with the chicken meat in an air-tight container for about 3 months, and same for the tortellini.