Episode 3 of Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy on CNN was ostensibly devoted to the food of Bologna, the capital of Emilia-Romagna. But our restless Italian gourmand does wander a bit from the hometown of mortadella (the more sophisticated ancestor of American ‶baloney″) to visit Parma (amazing prosciutto and Parmigiano-Reggiano) and even Modena.

We’d contend that Modena has given the world two of the most beautiful things to come out of Italy: the sleek red racing machines of Enzo Ferrari’s automotive company, and the navel-shaped filled pasta called tortellini. (It’s also the home of the greatest balsamic vinegar in the world, but that’s another story.) Bologna may be the premier university city but Modena has a powerful and ancient university of its own. It also possesses the more impeccable sense of design and the greater commitment to hand-crafted objects. It feels like the Modenesi think with their hands.

It’s unlikely that we’ll ever craft a Ferrari race car (or afford one, for that matter) but we’re willing to try our hands at tortellini. Those pictured here have their faults, but they are beautiful in our eyes. The chief fault? We should have rolled the dough one number thinner on our hand-cranked pasta machine. Then when we folded the tortellini (really tortelloni in our case), they would have more beautifully preserved the semblance of a goddess’s navel. Swelled up from simmering in the chicken broth, they suggest that Venus might have put on a few pounds since she came ashore.

We’ve given an accounting of how to make the classic Modenese tortellini en brodo in this post. But we were inspired by Tucci’s visit to Modena to make a slightly heartier full meal with diced shallot, carrot, and celery and a little wilted baby spinach at the end. Our filling emphasizes prosciutto over mortadella. Here’s how we did it:

TORTELLINI CON VERDURE EN BRODO

serves 2

for filling

1 cup ricotta, well-drained

2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated

2 ounces prosciutto, minced

for soup

1 tablespoon olive oil

one shallot, minced

2 small carrots, peeled and diced

2 celery stalks, peeled and diced

1 quart homemade chicken broth, strained

2 cups baby spinach leaves

for pasta

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 large eggs

One of the keys to this dish is staging. Since the extra-thin pasta dries very quickly, it’s best to have the filling ready and the broth simmering.

Begin by mixing together the filling ingredients and having a clean teaspoon handy to measure for each piece of pasta. Set aside.

Then make the broth. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven and sauté the shallots, carrots, and celery for about three minutes, or until slightly tender. Add chicken broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer slowly while making the pasta.

Make the pasta by heaping flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add salt and oil. Break eggs into well and mix with a fork until dough comes together in a single mass. Remove to a lightly floured counter and knead until texture of an earlobe. Divide into six pieces. Covering the remaining pieces with a barely damp towel, roll out one piece very thin on pasta machine. You should be able to read a newspaper headline through it if you hold it up to the light.

Use a 3-inch round cutter (or a big drinking glass) to cut circles. Remove scraps and keep under the damp towel. Place 1 teaspoon filling in center of each circle. Use your moistened finger to dampen the edges all around and fold over circle into a half-moon. Fold the pointed edges toward the middle and pinch together. The central portion will crease like a navel. Set aside on a flour-dusted baking sheet. Working quickly, roll out the rest of the dough and form tortellini. Combine all the scraps and roll out again if they are still moist enough to work with. You should end up with about 24 tortellini. Freeze extra filling to use another time or to make ravioli.

Add tortellini all at once to simmering broth and raise the heat a little to bring back to a simmer. Cook about five minutes. Tortellini will rise to the surface when done. Stir in the baby spinach and simmer another two minutes. Serve with additional grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.