What to use instead of tortellini
Made for broth. The small parcel cooks and is served in a clear capon or beef stock that carries the filling's flavour. Out of broth, a little butter or cream and parmesan is as far as tradition goes.
The closest swap: cappelletti
The Romagna parcel, the same in broth.
Tortellini is stuffed, 20 to 30 mm long, 2 to 4 minutes in the pot. Cappelletti sits in the stuffed family and cooks in 3 to 5 minutes. Match the cook time first. A swap that is right in shape and wrong in time still ends up wrong on the plate.
Every swap for tortellini, ranked
A substitute must behave the same way with the sauce you are making. The ones marked as chosen are hand-picked. The rest score on family, cavity, surface, size, and shared sauces.
- 1
Cappelletti
Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna
The Romagna parcel, the same in broth (chosen)
- 2
Tortelloni
Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna
Larger, with ricotta (chosen)
- 3
Anolini
Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna
The Parma broth parcel (chosen)
- 4
Caramelle
Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces, close in size
- 5
Ravioli
Stuffed · All of Italy
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 3 sauces
- 6
Agnolotti
Stuffed · Piedmont
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces
- 7
Mezzelune
Stuffed · Trentino-Alto Adige
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces
- 8
Cappellacci
Stuffed · Emilia-Romagna
Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 1 sauce
Match the sauce, not the look
Tortellini is listed against 3 sauces. Pick the swap that holds the one you are cooking.
- Best pasta for in brodo: A clear meat or chicken broth. Pastina or filled pasta, cooked and served in the liquid.
- Best pasta for cream sauce: Panna with cheese, mushrooms, ham, or peas. Heavy and clinging. Ridges and cups keep it on the pasta.
- Best pasta for butter and sage: Brown butter with crisped sage leaves. The filled-pasta sauce. It stays out of the way of the filling.
Side by side
The measured difference between tortellini and each swap.