Tortelli di Patate Recipe: Tuscan Potato-Filled Pasta | Mama Florence Cooking School

What Are Tortelli di Patate?

Tortelli di Patate are filled Italian pasta made with a potato-based filling enclosed in fresh egg dough.

The filling in this Mama Florence version is deliberately savory: potato is mixed with Parmigiano, butter, parsley, garlic, tomato paste, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Once shaped, the tortelli cook very quickly - only 2–3 minutes in boiling salted water - before being finished in the sauce of your choice.

A Classic Tuscan Pasta

Tortelli di Patate bring together two of the most comforting things in Italian cooking: fresh egg pasta and a soft, savory potato filling.

At Mama Florence Cooking School, the filling is made with mashed potato, Parmigiano, butter, parsley, garlic, tomato paste, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, then enclosed in thin sheets of fresh pasta. This recipe gives you the tortelli themselves rather than tying them to one sauce. Once shaped and cooked, they can be finished however you like - including with the classic butter and sage sauce we use in our Tortelli di Patate recipe.

How to Make Tortelli Pasta Dough

Pasta Dough Ingredients:

• 400 gr flour (200 gr all-purpose flour and 200 gr semola flour) • 4 eggs

Mama's Secret: Keep the flour close. This dough should finish smooth and homogeneous, but the recipe gives you room to respond to what is in front of you: add more flour if it feels too soft or sticky, or a few drops of warm water if it feels too stiff.

1. Make the Pasta Dough

• Put flour into a bowl or out onto a flat surface.
• Make a hole in the center of the mound, and break one egg at a time into the center.
• Beat eggs using a fork, slowly draw flour into the center of the mound, where the beaten egg is.
• Keep adding flour to the egg until possible, then knead with your hands until it's smooth and homogeneous.
• If the dough is too soft or sticky, add more flour. Alternatively, if the dough is too stiff, add a few drops of warm water.
• Form into a ball and sprinkle with flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Spread the dough out onto your surface, which should be lightly floured to avoid sticking.

2. Roll the Pasta

• Using a rolling pin, begin rolling pasta out from the center, until you reach the ideal thickness of 1 mm.
• You can also use a pasta machine, remembering to flour the dough if it is too sticky.

Shop Mama Florence's Pantry

• Marcato Atlas 150 Classic Pasta Machin: the recipe works beautifully with a rolling pin, but if you prefer a pasta machine, Mama Florence's Marcato Atlas 150 helps roll fresh egg pasta into the thin, even sheet you need for filled Tortelli. The recipe calls for a final thickness of 1 mm, so keep working gradually and flour the dough if it begins to stick.

How to Make the Potato Filling

Potato Filling Ingredients:

• 400 gr smashed potatoes • 20 gr Parmesan cheese • 40 gr butter • 1 tuft chopped parsley • 1 clove crushed garlic • 1 teaspoon tomato paste • salt, to taste • pepper, to taste • nutmeg, to taste

1. Make the Filling

• Put the smashed skinless potatoes in a bowl, add Parmesan, parsley, garlic, tomato paste, butter, nutmeg, pepper, and salt.
• Mix well until the blend is firm and well-amalgamated.

How to Shape Tortelli di Patate

1. Take as many disks as possible from your pasta sheet.
2. Fill each disk with your filling and be careful not to overstuff them. Pass a wet finger onto the disc edge and fold it into a taco shape.
3. Pinch your 'taco' edges together by gently pressing down around the filling, eliminating as much air as possible.
4. Flip your 'taco' so you have a smile shape, holding up the corners with your fingers. Join and pinch corners to make them stick together.
5. Place your tortello onto a tray, sprinkled with flour.

Cook the Tortelli

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.
2. Cook the tortelli for 2–3 minutes.
3. Drain, then transfer them to a pan with your chosen sauce.
4. Toss for approximately 1 minute, adding 1 tablespoon grated Parmigiano and 1 tablespoon pasta cooking water.
5. Serve immediately.

What Sauce Goes with Potato Tortelli?

Because this recipe gives you the filled pasta itself, the sauce is intentionally left open. A simple sauce works especially well because the filling already carries butter, cheese, garlic, parsley, and nutmeg. For one of our favorite ways to serve them, try our Tortelli di Patate with Butter and Sage, where the potato-filled pasta is finished with butter, sage, Parmigiano, and a little pasta water.

Tortelli di Patate vs Tortelli with Butter and Sage

These two Mama Florence recipes share the same idea but serve different purposes. This page teaches you how to make Potato Tortelli themselves: the fresh pasta dough, potato filling, shaping, cooking, and basic finishing method.

Our Tortelli di Patate with Butter and Sage takes the dish one step further and gives you the complete butter-and-sage preparation.

The Perfect Bite

The pasta should be thin and tender, with a filling that feels soft but still holds together when you cut into it. Potato gives the center its comfort and body, while garlic, parsley, tomato paste, nutmeg, butter, and Parmigiano keep it from tasting flat. The final sauce should support that filling rather than bury it.

More Handmade Pasta to Make

If you want to keep working with fresh egg dough, our Fresh Egg Tagliatelle uses the same basic combination of all-purpose flour, semola, and eggs but turns it into long ribbons instead of filled pasta. For a completely different Tuscan shape, explore Pici all’Aglione, where hand-rolled, egg-free pasta tells a very different regional story.

Learn to Make Fresh Pasta with Mama Florence

Filled pasta is one of those things that becomes much easier once you can feel the dough, see how much filling is enough, and watch how the seal changes when air is trapped inside.

You can work through the whole process in our Pasta Making Cooking Class at Mama Florence Cooking School, from dough and rolling to shaping and cooking.

Tortelli di Patate FAQ

Q: What are Tortelli di Patate? A: Tortelli di Patate are fresh filled pasta made with a savory potato filling enclosed in egg pasta dough.

Q: What is in the potato filling? A: This Mama Florence recipe uses 400 g mashed potato, 20 g Parmigiano, 40 g butter, parsley, garlic, tomato paste, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

Q: How thick should I roll the pasta? A: Roll the dough to approximately 1 mm thick.

Q: How long should Tortelli di Patate cook? A: Cook them in salted boiling water for approximately 2–3 minutes.

Q: What sauce goes with potato tortelli? A: You can finish them with your preferred sauce. For a classic option, try our Tortelli di Patate with Butter and Sage.

Q: Are Potato Tortelli vegetarian? A: Yes, this recipe contains eggs and dairy but no meat.

Disclaimer

Please note that our chefs may adapt recipes according to seasonal ingredient availability and participants’ dietary or allergy requirements. As a result, the ingredients, preparation, or presentation shown in this recipe may vary from what you prepared during your Mama Florence class. In some cases, elements of a dish may also appear as separate recipes — for example, the fresh pasta you prepared may be paired here with a different sauce, while the sauce from your class may appear in another recipe. Please reach out to our team if any confusion arises. Thank you — the Mama Florence Family.

Reviews

4.9 8 reviews

1. I was sceptical about how few ingredients there are and nearly went looking for a more complicated version. Turns out that is the point. Everything depends on the quality of what goes in and on not rushing it.

   Paul D.

   Minneapolis, USA · May 2026

2. I added a little chilli, which is not in the recipe, and nobody complained.

   Luca B.

   Turin, Italy · April 2026

3. We make this every year around the time we usually travel. It has become a small ritual.

   Ben T.

   Sydney, Australia · December 2025

4. First proper recipe I have attempted from scratch. I read it three times before I bought anything, then laid it all out on the counter like a television programme. Slow, nervous, and it worked.

   Amelia J.

   Adelaide, Australia · April 2025

Show all 8 reviews