Recipe | Tortellini in yuzu-flavored dashi

This dish can easily put me in trouble with my fellow Italians. Luckily the times of the Great Inquisition are a few centuries old and, at least, there is no risk I’m gonna finish my days at the stake.

Some very traditional cooks from Emilia Romagna may consider this recipe as an heresy, because ‘you do not screw up with tradition’... but what to do?

Here you go. Instead of cooking tortellini with their traditional stock of capon and beef, we will cook and serve them in a dashi broth flavored with yuzu.

The idea behind is to cook them in a broth that does not contain fat but that adds a citric note to soften the richness filling (mortadella, ham, bone marrow).

The preparation of dashi is relatively simple: place some Kombu seaweed in a pot with cold water. Let is sit there for about 30 minutes until it softens. Turn on the fire at medium heat and wait until the water starts boiling. Turn off the fire to avoid the seaweed to become slimy.

Add the bonito flakes (katsuobushi), stir softly and return to a gentle boil for about 15 min. At this point, turn off the fire and add yuzu juice (or the dried one). Strain the dashi with a the help of a colander.

Cook the tortellini in the dashi and serve with it. Note: a smoky note would work well with the dish. I've added some fresh oregano tips and burnt them with a blowtorch directly on the plate, but you could try something stronger!