Doughs:
- Standard Egg Dough
- Almost All-Yolk Dough
- Sour Cream & Rye Dough
- White Wine Dough
- Black Pepper Dough
- Colorful Egg Dough
Fillings:
Sauces:
What they are
“Little hats” from Emilia-Romagna, easily mistaken for tortellini but more forgiving than their all-star cousins. They’re often filled with cheese, but also meat or greens, then served in broth or sometimes in sauce, and can be fashioned from varying-sized rounds or squares. Like many small stuffed pastas, they were savored on special occasions like Christmas lunch and, until the modern age, reserved for the rich.
The love of this pasta runs deep: Cappelletti were once in such high demand that contests were held to see how many pieces could be downed in one sitting. Oretta Zanini De Vita’s Encyclopedia of Pasta quotes one observer: “The greed for this dish is so general that everyone, especially the priests, places bets on who can eat the largest number, with some reaching four hundred or five hundred, and each year this custom leads to the death of some individual, who succumbs to grave indigestion.” Not the worst way to go if you ask me!
How they’re traditionally served
Usually filled with meat or cheese and served in broth.
MAKE THE DOUGH AND FILLING
Make your pasta dough and filling of choice. Let the dough rest, tightly covered, at room temperature for 30 minutes and let the filling chill as needed.
SET UP YOUR WORKSPACE
Dust a sheet pan with semolina or line it with a dishcloth. Gather your tools and set up your pasta machine.
SHEET AND CUT THE DOUGH
Roll a quarter of your pasta dough following the directions here, stopping at twice through setting 6 for a Marcato or setting 7 for a KitchenAid machine.
Lay the pasta sheet horizontally on your work surface (if you’re using a countertop, dust it with some 00 or all-purpose flour first).
Cut the dough into 2-inch (5-cm) squares with a bicycle pastry cutter (or eyeball them with a knife) or use a 2½-inch/6-cm (for broth) or 3-inch/7.5-cm (for sauce) round cookie cutter to cut out as many rounds from the pasta sheet as you can. Any scraps can be balled up, covered, and reused later if they’re still pliable or saved for soup.
FILL THE CAPPELLETTI
Spoon or pipe dollops of filling, ½ to 1 teaspoon each (depending on the size), in the center of a few pieces, leaving a generous border of dough around them. Cover the rest of the dough with a dishcloth or plastic wrap. If the dough feels dry, mist it with a spray bottle or add a small amount of water with your finger to half of the edges of each square or round.
FOLD THE CAPPELLETTI
Fold each square into a triangle, or each circle into a half-moon, gently pressing out the air around the filling as you do so. Once the filling is encased, press the edges firmly between your fingers once more to seal and thin out the dough.
There are many ways to shape cappelletti, but here’s mine: Position the triangle or half-moon so the top point or curved edge is facing downward. Use your index finger to make an indentation in the center of the filling pocket—it’ll look like it’s smiling at you.
Bring the two ends toward you in a circular motion, then overlap them slightly and pinch firmly to seal. The squares might remind you of pointed pirate hats, and the rounds of sun hats with their brims turned up. When I make larger round cappelletti, sometimes I like to gently press on the filling pocket to flatten it.
Arrange the finished cappelletti in a single layer on the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
COOK THE PASTA
Cook the cappelletti in boiling water or broth until tender, 2½ to 3 minutes.
