A few pics of my village in Italy, Sestola, in the province of Modena, Emilia Romagna. Usually I go back in winter or spring, very occasionally in Autumn, but this time I made it in summer, and it was great, and hot!

The symbol of the village is La Rocca, the castle, here a few pics.

Picking flowers in the fields or working on the 'shabby chic' decor of the house.

Or foraging! No mushrooms this time but I found lots of berries!

Then I love walking in the mountains, here is Lago della Ninfa, a little lake above Sestola.

There are several tracks for hikers, and I don't pick flowers here, I just take photos!

Finally there is the food, fresh pasta is a must, especially if you find people who make it with you (because they are always making pasta anyway, like Agnese!)

My favourites are taglatelle and tortelloni with ricotta and spinach, served with sage (from the garden) and butter and Parmigiano made in the local dairy (1km away from my house!)

And of course crescentine and gnocco fritto from one of the many good restaurants and trattorie in the area (there are dozens!!)

And to finish a simple cake with nocino. 

More photos of Sestola here!

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Back to my home village and to my roots, making tortellini with 92 years old Agnese and her son Antonio. Agnese has been making fresh pasta since she was a child, like all the women in these mountains, and before Christmas a number of friends and village women come over to make tortellini with her, because you don't make tortellini alone, you do it in company, as you have to work fast filling and folding and you need many tortellini (at least 30 per plate if eaten in broth, more if served with cream). So you work, and chat at the same time, and perhaps it is this conviviality that makes the women of this area live a long life.

I remember my grandmother and her sister making pasta by hand, with a long rolling pin. Today Agnese (my grandma's cousin) uses a pasta machine because she has arthritis, and her sono Antonio helps her.

But she can still cat and fold the tiny tortellini!

I often make tortelloni, which are bigger and with a vegetarian filling, so it was great to make tiny little tortellini again, hundred of tortellini!

This is to give you an idea of the size.

At home I decided to make them again with my kids, and with a non-meat filling. For the fresh pasta the ratio is 1 medium-large egg for 100 g of flour, considering that 100g of flour make about 2 servings of tortellini. For the filling I made some fresh bread crumbs with stale bread, mixed with a little beaten egg and milk, and added tons of grated aged Parmigiano Reggiano, then black pepper and freshly ground nutmeg (adjust with salt to taste, but since I used plenty of Parmigiano I didn't need any). The filling should be quite firm and easy to roll into little balls. 

Roll one piece of pastry at the time, so it doesn't dry up, then cut it, add the filling, fold into triangles and then each one around your finger into a tortellino. Agnese cuts the tortellini shapes by hands, so some of the shapes differ lightly in size (and may fold differently) but for home use nobody worries here: it is the content and final taste that counts. Restaurants often follow suit, bus pasta shops tend to make all the tortellini the same size so they look better. I got a tortellini square cutter which helps  with the size, and the off cuts of pasta are kept aside too, these are called maltagliati (literally badly-cut) and they are used for soups like pasta e fagioli or minestrone (below you can see them in the tray on the side).

And here are our meatless tortellini! I served them with a vegetable broth, buonissimi!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

This year we spent Christmas in Italy, in my old village in the Appennines, we arrived on 11 December and after a few days we were blessed by snow. I loved looking out of the window and seeing snowdrops, animal footprints on the ground and little birds coming to the window for a break.

I also did a few walks around the Lago della Ninfa, next to Passo del Lupo.

Near home there are also a few lovely places where to walk and enjoy the winter 'wonderland'. A great end to 2017, and a lovely experience for the family.

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini ©