Julie Bove wrote:

> I bought some. Now what to do with it? I was reading up about it
[...]
> I want tasty!

Tortelli di zucca, then. Every area in the river Po valley has its own
recipe, like the renowned ones from Mantova and Ferrara or the other local
recipes. This one is from Reggio Emilia, my province. The big difference
among the various recipes is the sour and sweet part: ground amaretti and
mostarda*. Some recipes call for amaretti and others don't, since here in
Reggio it's a matter of choice in my family we choose add them. Mustard, on
the other hand, we don't like it in our tortelli so we leave it out, while
in Mantova it's a mandatory ingredient.

Tortelli di Zucca Reggiani - serves six

Filling
1.5 kg uf butternut squash
100 grams crumbled amaretti (the dry ones)
100 grams grated very old cheese (30 months +)
Nutmeg
Salt

Dough,
600 grams soft wheat flour (all purpose)
6 eggs

Dressing
100 grams lard
an onion
a medium sized tomato
or just butter

Slowly bake the squash until a fork can enter the pulp with very few
resistance; separate pulp from seeds and rind; put the pulp in a bowl and
add the crumbled amaretti (if you haven0t a mortar just wrap them in
parchment papaer and crush them with the flat bottom of a glass), the grated
cheese, some nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Mix all well and taste both for
salt and the sweetness from the amaretti.
Mix well the eggs and the flour and lay the dough in a thin layer, but thick
enough to be worked. Make it into 6 inches wide strips the longest you can
then get the filling bowl and a couple of small spoons: using the 2 spoons
just make quenelles of the filling and put them over the dough in a line:
http://www.solofornelli.it/wp-conten...elli_zucca.gif
After you topped a whole strip, fold the dough over the filling balls:
http://www.ristoranteilgiglio.it/fil...gio-emilia.jpg
With the fingers, press the dough around the filling balls taking care to
let the air out, then just cut the dough between one tortello and
anotherwith a rolling pin and end up by pressing the edges with a fork to
give a better closure.
Ready a floured cutting board or tray and put the tortelli there to rest
about hour before cooking them.
Prepare tha sautee with just the onion and the tomato in minced lard, or
just melt some butter, any way you choose never forget to grate some very
old aged cheese. Bring a pot of water to a boil, boil the tortelli for about
5-8 minutes, based on how thick is the dough. If 8 minutes aren't enough
just wait and taste the dough edge of a tortello now and then. Lay the
tortelli in the dishes in a flat layer, avoiding to superimpose them, then
add the dressing of your choice, add the grated cheese and proceed with a
second layer of tortelli.
A hearthy and versatile food for winter Sundays, if one doesn't like
amaretti or mostarda he can leave them out as many people do.

Apart from the cooking time of the squash, which can also be baked in
advance, it takes about 45 minutes to an hour of work to prepare tortelli
for 6 persons.

* whole or cut fruits preserved under a thick, sirupy, mustard-essence laden
kind of sirup. The most famous are cremonese, with many fruits, and
mantovana, with just pere cotogne.
Cremonese:
http://www.alimentipedia.it/files/im...da-cremona.jpg
Mantovana:
http://www.clubpapillon.it/serbatoio...o/mostarda.JPG
Somehow some old time italian merchant or cook took the word "mustard",
which has a precise significance in all the world, and used it to name this
particular item, so now we're the only ones using the word "mustard" for
something different from sinapsis hirta, brassica juncea or brassica nigra.
Those we call them "senape".
--
"Un pasto senza vino e' come un giorno senza sole"
Anthelme Brillat Savarin