Tortellini hails from the vibrant city of Bologna with a curious “history.” Legend has it that Tortellini was created as a tribute to Venus, the goddess of love. When Venus stayed in a tavern on the outskirts of the city, the innkeeper spied on her through the keyhole of her room, but could catch only a glimpse of her navel. Spellbound, he went to the kitchen and, to capture this vision, shaped fresh egg pasta into the navel-sized Tortellini.

Hundreds of year later, Tortellini remains one of Italy’s classic pastas – and has become a favorite in America and around the world.  This delicate, fresh pasta, shaped and filled with flavorful ingredients such as cheese, meat, fish, or vegetables, is one of the essentials of Italian cuisine, found in nearly every region of the country in countless varieties. Barilla brings this beloved authentic Italian tradition to your table with Barilla Tortellini.

With every mouth-watering bite delivering delicious homemade taste, Barilla Tortellini turns an ordinary meal into a gourmet experience. Sophisticated yet hearty, these ring-shaped pastas combine Barilla’s world-renowned egg pasta with some of the favorite foods of traditional Italian cooking:  Ricotta, tender spinach and earthy Porcini mushrooms.

Barilla Tortellini are the everyday choice of families across Italy who, when they’re too busy to make their own, want a convenient way to carry on the time-honored tradition of serving homemade filled pasta. Ready to eat in just minutes, they make a perfect meal any day of the week—and their delicious blend of pasta, cheese and fresh ingredients will make them a weekly favorite in your house.

The Difference You Can Taste 

At Barilla, making pasta is not just our business – it’s our art.  In creating Barilla Tortellini our goal is to capture the same flavors, texture, and taste as fresh, homemade tortellini found in family kitchens throughout Italy.

We begin with the freshest, highest-quality ingredients from the Italian tradition for the fillings and the pasta, crucial for developing superior flavor and texture. Drawing on more than a century of pasta-making expertise, we create a delicate, thin layer of pasta that is never gummy or chewy and will not fall apart during cooking.

Next, we mimic the handmade process by shaping, filling, and pinching these filled pastas one at a time, in the right proportions, just as if they were made by hand in an Italian kitchen. Our distinctive gentle drying process allows the flavor of the fillings to come through the pasta with a lightness and airiness that pleases the palate.  Finally, we package the pasta parcels in a high-quality foil pouch to maintain their freshness to ensure that you bring only the best filled pasta to your table.  All these efforts help  to deliver a taste experience that far exceeds the frozen and refrigerated varieties and one that is as close as you can get to the fresh filled pastas that are found in households across Italy.

Barilla Tortellini delivers the genuine flavor, texture, and joy of eating that have always been the hallmarks of traditional Italian cooking – and of the Barilla brand.  Buon appetito!

Barilla Tortellini are available in two shapes: the traditional bite-size Tortellini and the larger Tortelloni.  Try Barilla Tortellini: Cheese & Spinach and Three Cheese  and Barilla Tortelloni:  Ricotta & Spinach. You’ll find them in your grocery store next to Barilla Pasta, or you can order them from My Brands, Inc. at 1-888-281-6400 or visit www.mybrandsinc.com .

How to Use
Traditionally, Tortellini often are cooked in a simple chicken broth to make the classic dish Tortellini in Brodo, or are paired with a light tomato sauce.  The larger Tortelloni can take on heartier, more substantial sauces, including butter-, cream- or vegetable-based sauces.

Best when served warm, Barilla Tortellini (and Tortelloni) are perfect when paired simply with melted butter or extra virgin olive oil, topped by a generous sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.  Partnering them with one of Barilla Traditional Red Sauces or Restaurant Creations also allows you to create an authentic Italian meal in no time.

For optimal flavor in refrigerated pasta salads, allow your salad made with Barilla Tortellini (and Tortelloni) to sit at room temperature for one hour after removing it from the refrigerator.