Tordelli lucchesi: Lucca’s Sunday pasta

Last updated: October 2026

If Lucca has a Sunday lunch, it’s tordelli. Big half-moons of egg pasta, stuffed with meat, cheese and herbs, then buried in a slow-cooked meat sauce with plenty of parmesan. It’s the dish you’ll find on every proper trattoria menu in the city, and it’s what nonnas in the hills make when the family comes round.

I won’t lie. It’s a project. But it’s a lovely way to spend a rainy Sunday, and they freeze beautifully, so you can make a big batch.

Where tordelli come from

Tordelli are Lucca’s own stuffed pasta. The tourist sites and local recipe collections in Lucca describe them as the Sunday dish of the Lucchesia and Versilia, made above all for feast days and Carnival. The name tordelli is used in Lucca, Viareggio and the Lunigiana; elsewhere in Italy you’d say tortelli.

They began as a clever way to use up the roast. In the classic version, leftover roast beef and pork from Sunday lunch were minced with bread soaked in broth, cheese, eggs and herbs. Every family has its own mix. Some add chard, some mortadella or sausage, and some use pecorino as well as parmesan. Look out for pepolino, the local name for wild thyme.

They’re cut with a glass into rounds, folded into half-moons, and served in layers with the meat sauce. Try them in Lucca itself, or read my guide to what to eat in the Lucca and Pistoia hills.

Ingredients

Meat sauce

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, 1 carrot and 1 celery stick, finely chopped
• 400 g minced beef, or a beef and pork mix (14 oz)
• 150 ml red wine (⅔ US cup)
• 700 g passata (about 3 US cups)
• 1 bay leaf, salt and pepper

Pasta

• 400 g 00 flour (about 3¼ US cups)
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Filling

• 300 g minced beef and 300 g minced pork (10½ oz each), or the same weight of leftover roast
• 100 g stale white bread, crusts off (about 2 thick slices)
• 150 ml hot meat stock (⅔ US cup)
• 150 g cooked Swiss chard or spinach, squeezed dry and chopped
• 2 large eggs
• 100 g Parmigiano Reggiano and 50 g pecorino, grated
• 1 garlic clove, a small bunch of parsley and a few sprigs of thyme, finely chopped
• Nutmeg, salt and pepper

Plus more grated Parmigiano to serve.

Method

1. The sauce (2 hours or more, mostly simmering)

1. Warm the oil in a heavy pan and soften the onion, carrot and celery gently for 10 minutes.
2. Turn the heat up, add the meat and brown it well, breaking it up, for about 10 minutes.
3. Pour in the wine and let it bubble until it’s mostly gone.
4. Add the passata, bay leaf and a glass of water. Simmer gently, partly covered, for at least 2 hours, stirring now and then and adding a splash of water if it gets thick. Season at the end.

2. The pasta (15 minutes, plus 30 minutes resting)

1. Tip the flour onto a board or into a big bowl, make a well, and add the eggs and oil.
2. Mix with a fork, then your hands, into a firm dough.
3. Knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and silky. Wrap and rest for 30 minutes.

3. The filling (25 minutes, plus cooling)

1. Soak the bread in the hot stock for 5 minutes, then squeeze it out.
2. If you’re using raw mince, fry it in a little oil for 8 to 10 minutes until just cooked, then let it cool. If you’re using leftover roast, mince it finely.
3. Mix the meat with the bread, chard, eggs, cheeses, garlic and herbs. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. The mix should hold together without being wet.

4. Shape (30 to 40 minutes)

1. Roll the pasta thin, a section at a time, with a pasta machine (second-thinnest setting) or a rolling pin. Keep the rest covered.
2. Cut rounds of 8 to 9 cm with a glass or cutter.
3. Put a heaped teaspoon of filling in the middle of each. Fold into a half-moon and press the edges hard to seal, pushing out any air.
4. Lay them on a floured tray, not touching.

5. Cook and serve (10 minutes)

1. Cook in batches in a big pan of well-salted, gently boiling water for 4 to 5 minutes, until the edges are tender.
2. Lift out with a slotted spoon. Layer in a warm dish with the sauce and a good handful of parmesan, and finish with more sauce and cheese on top.

Tips

• Make it over two days. The sauce and filling are better made the day before.
• Seal well. Any air or gap and they’ll burst in the pan. A dab of water on the edges helps.
• Freeze them raw. Freeze on a floured tray, then bag them. Cook from frozen for a minute or two longer.
• Short on time? Use good fresh lasagne sheets for the pasta. Not traditional, but it works.

UK and US notes

• 00 flour: in most supermarkets. US all-purpose flour also works.
• Passata: in the US, look for strained tomatoes.
• Swiss chard: sold as chard in the UK and US. Spinach is fine.
• Pecorino: Pecorino Romano is easy to find. Use all parmesan if you prefer.

What to serve with them

• A red from the Colline Lucchesi or Montecarlo, Lucca’s two local wine areas.
• A green salad afterwards, and nothing else. They’re filling.
• For pudding, go light. Or follow Lucca and finish with a slice of castagnaccio in winter.

FAQ

Tordelli or tortelli?

The same idea. In Lucca they say tordelli. You’ll see both spellings on menus.

Can I make them vegetarian?

Not the classic way. For a meat-free stuffed pasta, use a ricotta and greens filling with a tomato and butter sauce. It’s tasty, but it’s not tordelli.

Where can I eat tordelli in Lucca?

They’re on the menu at most traditional trattorie in the city. My Lucca page has more on the city.

You might also enjoy:

• All my Tuscan recipes
• Lucca
• What to eat in the Lucca and Pistoia hills
• Best day trips from Lucca

Susan

Sources: Lucca tourism and local recipe collections, including Made in Lucca’s tordelli recipes.