Veal & mortadella agnolotti

Most of the homemade mortadella we made around the holidays got sliced up (nice and thin!) and eaten as-is. But not all of it.

The stuff makes a fine ingredient for a pasta filling, you know. And this filling is the best to come out of our recent batch of mortadella.

Of course, you don't have to make your own mortadella to put these agnolotti together. Just go out and buy some of the stuff and get to work.

Now.



Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in around a tablespoon of olive oil.



Add 1 pound ground veal.



Once the veal has browned a bit add 1/3 cup or so of either white wine or vermouth and turn up the heat.



Allow the wine to evaporate, then turn off the heat and let the veal cool a bit.



Dice 1/4 pound of mortadella (makes no difference if you use a hunk or slices).



In a food processor add the veal, mortadella, 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano and one egg, then process until completely blended.



Taste and adjust seasoning as you like. (You could add more cheese, or a little salt, perhaps a dash of nutmeg.)



Instead of using a pastry bag I always put my pasta fillings in a strong plastic bag that can be thrown away after I'm finished. (Of course, you'll need to cut the tip off in order to allow the filling to be squeezed out.)



Roll out your pasta dough on the thin side and around 3 or 4 inches wides.



If your dough is very moist you can skip this step; otherwise brush a little egg wash along the far edge before rolling the dough around the filling.



Use your finger to press down and form the individual agnolotti (I made these on the longish side, but smaller works great too).



This is basically what it will look like once you've worked your way along the entire roll.



All that's left to do now is cut the individual agnolotti.



I boiled and served these in freshly made chicken broth (or brodo) and topped the agnolotti with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and freshly ground black pepper. The reason I chose to go with a classic and simple brodo is so that the veal and mortadella filling can really stand out.

And it did.

Which is a very good thing.