Cooking, as we know, is an oral tradition.
I mangiari lucchesi (MPFazzi Editore in Lucca) is a small booklet that collects the best of Lucca's gastronomic tradition from the voices of cooks and kitchen workers.
Here is the tale of tordelli
In Lucca, we call tortelli 'tordelli'.
To prepare them we will first make their filling:
a good slice of roast beef and a slice of roast pork of about 300 grams in total, finely minced, a slice of bread soaked in broth, two tablespoons of parmesan and one of grated pecorino, 2 eggs, the leaves of a sprig of pepper, a small tuft of chopped parsley, salt and pepper. Mix well until all the ingredients are blended.
Prepare the dough by rolling out as much flour as I can fit in 4 whole eggs; add a pinch of salt, knead for a long time and roll it out very thinly into long strips one hand wide.
Arrange small spoonfuls of filling on them at regular intervals, wrap and close each tordello by cutting it half round with a glass or with the special die cutter. The tordelli will be ready and lined up on the previously floured tablecloth. Cook them in plenty of salted water. When they are cooked, remove them with a skimmer, put them to drain in a colander and then season them in layers in a soup tureen with meat sauce, sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese.
