Tortellini in brodo is Bologna's Christmas-and-Sunday pasta: tiny egg-yolk parcels stuffed with mortadella, prosciutto di Parma, pork loin and Parmigiano Reggiano, served floating in a clear capon and beef brodo.
The tortellino reached its modern form in the 16th-century kitchens of the Emilian nobility, with Bologna and Modena both claiming origin. The legend places it at a Castelfranco Emilia tavern, where an innkeeper modelled the pasta on a noblewoman's navel. The Confraternita del Tortellino deposited the legal recipe with the Camera di Commercio of Bologna on 7 December 1974: pork loin, prosciutto di Parma, mortadella, Parmigiano Reggiano, egg and nutmeg, hand-folded into 5g parcels and served only in capon brodo. Trattoria Anna Maria, Diana and Tamburini serve the canonical version.
4 editor picks for Tortellini in brodo in Bologna, ranked by editorial score. All Bologna signature dishes · Tortellini in brodo across every city.
All'Osteria Bottega ★ 4.7
saragozza · Via Santa Caterina 51, 40123 Bologna BO
All'Osteria Bottega in Bologna's Saragozza is the Daniele Minarelli and Valeria Tonelli room, a tiny dining hall running the canonical Emilian carte with precision.
Trattoria Anna Maria ★ 4.6
universita · Via delle Belle Arti 17/A, 40126 Bologna BO
Trattoria Anna Maria in Bologna near Via Zamboni is the city's most-photographed sfoglia trattoria, run by Anna Maria Monari since 1985 with hand-rolled tortellini.
Tamburini ★ 4.4
quadrilatero · Via Caprarie 1, 40124 Bologna BO
Tamburini in Bologna's Quadrilatero is the 1932-founded salumeria-and-self-service operating from Via Caprarie, with cured-meat counters, a daily-changing carte and aperitivo from 18:00.
Trattoria Meloncello ★ 4.3
saragozza · Via Saragozza 240/A, 40135 Bologna BO
Trattoria Meloncello in Bologna sits at the foot of the 666-arch portico up to San Luca, a family room running the classic Bolognese Sunday-lunch carte.