Tortelli and Castelli in Emilia-Romagna

A tortello that tastes like a Reese’s? We tried it today.

Today we ate at Tortelloterapia (“Tortello Therapy”), a restaurant I have had on my radar for YEARS, but we have never been able to go because it is only open on weekends and we were just never in the right place at the right time with the time to do it. It is set out in the hills south of Reggio Emilia. This place is really of limited value in terms of our research for clients….very few people would come out here. It is perfect to pair it with the Castle at Canossa, and also the Casa di Tibet, a Buddhist retreat in the village of Votigno…..but the roads in the hills here are windy and tiny, and it is far away from the more easily accessible towns and castles, and visiting these places requires a ton of climbing steps. Most of our clients are here for a few days only, and this kind of stuff is a bit too far “off the beaten path”. That is totally understandable! Most of our clients are Americans who are lucky if they have 2 weeks off a year, and when they entrust us with 7-8 days of their travel time we guard it carefully.

We used to travel this way all the time: set out in the morning, randomly driving, and in this manner we came across all kinds of incredible sights and incredible food. Now that we have driven these lands so much, our travel is much more focused and planned, because we are having to check on places we already know to see how they are doing, and to add a few new places here and there as we go.

One of the reasons we like to move with our cats to a place for a couple of weeks is so we can take a day to just wander around with no real set schedule except a lunch. Today we hiked up to the castle at Canossa (it is a LOT of steps, one can see why Queen Matilda liked this strategic post), and took in the views from there. Zoom in on that last photo in the series, it shows a church in the distance from the castle, something the naked eye picks up easily but a phone camera does not, so I marked it for you with an arrow

Tortelloterapia was indeed therapeutic. Obviously the stars of the menu are the tortelli. They make all kinds of fillings, some basic, like potato, and some wild. You can order one flavor, or an assortment of 12 or 18, which have every type on offer that day. They are served in a butter sauce, and then they bring a little dish of marinara on the side that you can dress the pasta in. (descriptions of the tortelli are below the photos)

We tried a dish of 12, with 6 different types.
1. Potato
2. Onion
3. “Lasagna in Prigionata” (Lasagna in Prison)
4. Bietole (red beet, pictured)
5. Beet greens with parmigiano
6. Zucca (pictured)

The zucca was pumpkin inside, which was sweet on its own, in a chocolate pasta, which was also slightly sweet. We put this aside to eat as dessert after we wolfed down all the others. It really did remind me of a Reese’s, and I mean that in a nice way. I LOVE Reese’s.

By the way, that castle in the background (in the second picture) is the castle in the foreground in the last picture (Canossa)