Tortelloni vs. Tortellini: What’s the Difference?

Tortelloni is a stuffed, keyhole-shaped pasta made by folding a round piece of dough in half over a filling, twisting the two ends together and binding the pasta into a circular shape. Popular in the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions of Northern Italy, Tortelloni are traditionally stuffed with a vegetarian mixture consisting of ingredients like ricotta cheese, leafy vegetables (like spinach and parsley), crumbled amaretti biscuits, or pumpkin purée.

Once stuffed and shaped, tortelloni is most commonly cooked in a simple sage-infused butter sauce. However, it can also be served with a variety of sauces, like pesto, ragù, marinara sauce, or cream sauce. Given its vegetarian filling, this popular pasta shape is traditionally served on Christmas Eve in Italy, as the Catholic church encourages abstaining from eating meat on the day before the holy holiday.

Hailing from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy—which is also home to celebrated traditional Italian ingredients like Parmigiano-Reggiano, prosciutto di Parma, and balsamic vinegar of Modena—tortellini is a type of small, ring-shaped pasta traditionally stuffed with a combination of ground meat (like mortadella and prosciutto), egg, and parmesan cheese, and sealed in a circular fashion. Local legend states that the shape of tortellini is meant to emulate the navel of the goddess Venus.

While the neighboring cities of Bologna and Modena fight over which was the true birthplace of Tortellini, both areas can agree on the most classic way to serve these pillowy bites of pasta: boiled and served in a bowl of rich beef brodo or chicken broth. Tortellini pasta can also be tossed in a number of sauces common to Italian cuisine, such as bolognese or tomato sauce.

The primary differences between these two stuffed pastas come down to the size of the pasta and the traditional fillings used. Although the two share a similar shape, tortelloni are larger than delicate little tortellini. While tortelloni is traditionally filled with a combination of vegetarian ingredients, tortellini usually features a meat filling.

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