Cappellacci is a type of Italian stuffed pasta, similar to ravioli but with a distinctive hat-like shape—hence the name cappellacci, which means “big hat”. In particular it references farmer’s hat, but not only due to their shape and color but also because of its ancient peasants origin.
Cappellaci originate in 16th century from Ferrara, in the Emilia-Romagna region. They are made with egg pasta dough and traditionally filled with simple 3-ingredient roasted pumpkin or butternut squash (cappellacci di zucca).
Just like classic spinach and ricotta ravioli, you can serve them with simple butter and sage sauce or take them to the next level with gorgonzola cream sauce or savory prosciutto and butter sauce. You’ll find all three sauce variations in the recipe below.
Table Of Contents
How to Pronounce Cappellacci?
Cappellacci is pronounced as "kah-pehl-LAH-chee"
The Rule: In Italian, the double "ll" is soft, and the "cci" makes a "chee" sound, similar to fettuccine.
Ingredients
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
For pasta dough
- Eggs - use fresh, organic eggs. They have bright orange egg yolk which is responsible for the characteristic yellow color fresh pasta dough and certainly they’re far superior in taste.
- Flour - Italian soft wheat “00” flour is the best, but it can be substituted with all-purpose flour.
For pumpkin filling
- Pumpkin - any pumpkin or butternut squash variety that has sweet and compact pulp will work.
- Parmesan Cheese - make sure to use authentic Parmigiano Reggiano, it will make a big difference.
- Nutmeg - essential flavor for the filling, but you can slightly adjust the quantity to your taste.
- Breadcrumbs - helps bind the filling together without making it hard.
How To Make - Step By Step With Pictures
- Wash pumpkin or butternut squash, cut open and remove the core. Bake pumpkin in a preheated to 356 F (180C) oven for 50-60 minutes.
- Once baked pumpkin is cool, scoop out the flash and blitz it in a blender or in a food processor until pureed. Combine pumpkin puree, grated Parmesan cheese, nutmeg, breadcrumbs and a pinch of salt.
- Weight the eggs and note their total weight without the eggshell. Calculate how much flour you need: egg weight in grams x 1.75
Sift the flour on work surface. Scoop a well in the center and add in the eggs. Start beating the eggs with a fork, little by little incorporating flour from the sides.
Once mixture becomes thick start kneading the dough by hand for about 10 minutes. It should be elastic, soft and no longer sticky. Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Once the dough has rested visually divide it into 6 parts and cut off one piece. Keep the rest of the dough in a plastic bag or sealed with plastic wrap.
Set pasta machine on the widest setting (on Marcato Atlas 0) and pass the dough for the first time. Fold the dough in half and pass again on the same setting.
Adjust to the next-narrower setting, and pass the dough through it. Repeat the process until you reach thickness of 1 millimeter or position 6 on Marcato Atlas Pasta Machine.
- Using a pasta wheel cut the dough sheets into squares - 6 x 6 cm or 2.5 x 2.5 inches.
- Place a generous amount of pumpkin filling onto each square. It’s easier to do so with a pastry bag but a spoon will work too.
Pay Attention: Don't roll out all pasta dough at once. Roll and work one sheet of pasta at a time to prevent pasta squares from drying.
- Fold each square into a triangle, pinch well the edges around the filling. Place your thumbs at the base of the pasta triangle and your point fingers in the middle of the sides. Press gently curling the sides. Overlap the tips leaving a little of free-end space and pinch to seal.
- Arrange cappellacci on a well floured work-surface. Repeat the same process with the remaining dough.
Top Tips - Don't Miss!
- Perfect Pasta Dough. Weighting both eggs and flour is the key to having the perfect pasta dough, great tasting and easy to work with. See my extensive egg pasta dough guide for details.
- Filling consistency. Depending on how moist your pumpkin you might need to add a little more breadcrumbs. The filling should be soft but not too moist.
- Work in batches. Roll pasta dough, fill it and close cappellacci in batches to prevent rolled pasta from drying.
How to Cook Cappellacci
Cook freshly made cappellacci in salted boiling water for 2-3 minutes once they come afloat.
How to Serve - 3 Delicious Sauces
Butter and Sage
- Drop cappellacci in salted water brought to a vigorous boil.
- While pasta is cooking, in a large pan add butter and sage leaves.
Let it melt on low heat, then simmer until sage becomes fragrant. Turn the heat off. - Once cappellacci are cooked, remove them from water with a slotted spoon and toss in the pan with sage butter sauce set on medium heat for about a minute until well coated.
Gorgonzola, Cream and Walnuts
- Drop cappellacci in salted water brought to a vigorous boil.
- While pasta is cooking, in a pan add cream and gorgonzola cheese.
Let it melt on low heat, then simmer until bubbly and slightly thickened. - Once cappellacci are cooked, remove them from water with a slotted spoon and toss in the pan with gorgonzola and cream for about a minute until well coated. Top with chopped walnuts.
SHORTCUT TIP: if you have any leftover gorgonzola cream sauce you can use it instead. Simply melt it in the pot with a little pasta cooking water.
Prosciutto (Speck) and Butter
- Cook cappellacci in salted water brought to a vigorous boil.
- While pasta is cooking, in a large pan add speck or prosciutto crudo cut into thin strips. Cook on medium heat until crispy. Add butter.
- Once cappellacci are cooked, remove them from water with a slotted spoon and toss in the pan in prosciutto and butter sauce until well coated.
How To Store
- At room temperature: you can keep cappellacci on a well floured board for 1 hour if you plan to serve them soon.
- In the fridge: store in the fridge on a well floured tray for up to 6 hours.
- In the freezer: arrange capellacci on a tray lines with parchment paper and freeze. Once frozen you can transfer them to a zip-lock bag. Cook directly from frozen in salted water brought to a vigorous boil.
FAQs
Both cappellacci and ravioli are stuffed pasta shapes. The difference lies in their shape, regional popularity and filling. Ravioli are square or round shaped pillows that can be stuffed with variety of fillings: spinach and ricotta, mushrooms, cheese etc. They're widely popular all around Italy. Cappellacci on the other hand are typical to the Emilia-Romagna region, usually stuffed with pumpkin and their shape resembles one of a farmer's hat, hence the name.
Both cappelletti and cappellacci are shaped like a "hat" and are typical to Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The difference is in their size and filling. Cappelletti (meaning - small hats) are smaller in size, typically filled with cheese or meat filling and served in broth. Overall they are very similar to tortellini. Cappellacci (meaning - big hats) are much larger in size and typically stuffed with pumpkin or butternut squash.
More Handmade Pasta Recipes
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Full Recipe
Handmade Cappellacci Pasta with Roasted Pumpkin
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 300 g flour
Pumpkin Filling
- 350 g pumpkin , about 12 oz (cooked pumpkin or butternut squash flash)
- 100 g Parmesan cheese - grated , about 4 oz
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 3 tablespoon breadcrumbs , plus a little more if needed
Sauce 1:
- 100 g butter , about 3-4 ounces
- 2 sprigs sage
Sauce 2:
- Gorgonzola
- Walnuts
Sauce 3:
- Speck (or prosciutto crudo)
- butter
Instructions
Prepare the filling
- Wash pumpkin or butternut squash, cut open and remove the core. Depending on the pumpkin size you’ll only need half of the squash.
- Place pumpkin half on a baking sheet, salt slightly and bake in a preheated to 356 F (180C) oven for 50-60 minutes.
- Once baked pumpkin is cool, scoop out the flash and blitz it in a blender or in a food processor until pureed. Alternatively you can smash it with a fork.
- In a bowl combine pumpkin puree, grated Parmesan cheese, nutmeg, breadcrumbs and a pinch of salt. Mix until combined. Cover and let rest while you’re preparing the dough.
Prepare Egg Pasta Dough (Pasta All’Uovo)
- Weight the eggs and note their total weight without the eggshell.
- Calculate how much flour you need: egg weight in grams x 1.75
- Sift the flour on work surface. Scoop a well in the center and add in the eggs.
- Start beating the eggs with a fork, little by little incorporating flour from the sides.
- Once mixture becomes thick start knead the dough by hand for about 10 minutes. It should be elastic, soft and no longer sticky.
- You can also make the dough using a food processor with a dough hook.
- Wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes or more.
- Once the dough has rested visually divide it into 6 parts and cut off one piece. Keep the rest of the dough in a plastic bag or sealed with plastic wrap.
- Set pasta machine on the widest setting (on Marcato Atlas 0) and pass the dough for the first time. Fold the dough in half and pass again on the same setting.
- Adjust to the next-narrower setting, and pass the dough through it. Repeat the process until you reach thickness of 1 millimeter or position 6 on Marcato Atlas Pasta Machine.
- Using a pasta wheel cut the dough sheets into squares - 6 x 6 cm or 2.5 x 2.5 inches.
How to close capellacci
- Place a generous amount of pumpkin filling onto each square. It’s easier to do so with a pastry bag but spoon will work too.
- Fold each square into a triangle, pinch well the edges around the filling. Place your thumbs at the base of the pasta triangle and your point fingers in the middle of the sides. Press gently curling the sides. Overlap the tips leaving a little of free-end space and pinch to seal.
- Repeat the same process with the remaining dough. Again, remember to work it in small parts unless you have a team of hands to help.
- Cook cappellacci in vigorously boiling salted water for about 2-3 minutes after they come up afloat.
- Alternatively you can freeze them and boil directly from frozen when needed.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Maud says
Fantastiskt!
William Lundy says
I haven't made it yet, but you have given me a great gift! Last fall I roasted and pureed a lot of pumpkin, intending it for pies and a few other projects. As things have turned out so far, I have used much less than anticipated and still have 2000 - 2500 grams of puree still in the freezer. This recipe is going to the top of my "to do" list so I can reduce that inventory, hopefully in time for this fall's new crop of pumpkins and squash.
And thank you for the nudge to weighing everything. I do exactly the same as you recommend in the recipe, and always get the texture I desire.