Agnolotti is a special stuffed pasta typical of the Piedmont region, especially around Monferrato and the Alessandria and Asti provinces, but popular throughout the region. It differs from the other types of ravioli because the filling is always made with roasted meats.
Roll out a dough made of flour and eggs, cut it into small squares and stuff them with a little filling. The squares are covered with a second square of pasta to create a small square meat ravioli. They are then cooked in meat broth for 4 – 5 minutes.
Agnolotti originated as a way to use meat leftovers, so there is no set recipe. The different versions depend on the ingredients available. Still, they can be prepared in countless ways, in Piedmont there are only four traditional recipes for agnolotti: with a Piedmontese ragù, with meat broth, with a roast meat gravy, or with butter, sage and Parmigiano.
Also very popular in the region, is the agnolotti ‘al plin’, meaning ‘pinch. Agnolotti al plin are folded pieces of pasta that create a characteristic envelope shape. These too, are filled only with meat.