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www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know News India Times (December 27, 2025 - January 2, 2026) January 2, 2026 18 Holiday Season Ferocious pride can be a big part of being an embassy chef, and Grazioli carries the weight of heavy expecta- tions. This month, Italy’s cuisine was recognized by the U.N.’s cultural agency, UNESCO, as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, an honor excitedly shared by its diplomats. “For us Italians, cuisine is not just food or a collection of recipes,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said fol- lowing the announcement. “It is culture, tradition, work and well being. Cooking means taking care of family, friends and guests.” This year, in time for Christmas, Grazioli returned to the small village where, in the 1970s, his family had an outhouse, food was scarce, and they practically lived on his grandmother’s inexpensive polenta with a bit of olive oil and cheese. In preparation for Christmas Eve dinner, fol- lowing family tradition, he and his mom, Adriana Righetto, 84, made his family’s tortelli di zucca alla mantovana recipe, a provincial specialty dating to the 1500s. They filled delicate pasta pockets with pumpkin puree and crushed amaretti cookies, which are made from almonds and have no wheat flour. “This is 100% required,” he said. They cook them on Christmas Eve, even though it is a somber time for the family. It’s the anniversary of the day his father was buried. “It’s not a good time for us, but we keep the tra- dition, you know, pretending that he’s there with us,” Grazioli said. Tortelli di Zucca alla Mantovana Grazioli’s family makes this pumpkin-filled pasta from his hometown, on the outskirts of Mantova, on Christmas Eve. He shared this recipe, which he originally published as part of the “Euro- pean Union Holiday Cookbook.” Ingredients For the filling • 2 cups roasted kabocha squash puree; see directions (May substitute pumpkin puree, from two 15-ounce cans) • 1½ cups amaretti cookies • ½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for serving • 1 large egg • Ground nutmeg to taste • Finely grated lemon zest from 1 lemon, to taste • Fine salt to taste • Quince preserves (optional) For the pasta • 1¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed • 2 large eggs, at room temperature, beaten • 1 to 2 tablespoons butter • Fresh sage leaves Directions • Make the filling: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper. • Using a sharp knife, cut the squash into slices, discarding the seeds and strings. Arrange the slices on the prepared sheet pan and bake for 20 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a fork. Turn off the oven and let cool in the oven to help it dry. • While the squash cools, crush the amaretti cookies by hand into a large bowl. • When the squash has cooled, peel the skin and use a potato ricer to puree the squash in the large bowl with the crushed cookies. (Alternatively, mash the squash by hand with a fork.) Add the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, egg, nutmeg, lemon zest, salt and a spoonful of quince preserves, if using, to the squash and cookie mixture, and mix well with a spatula. Once you have a homoge- neous mixture, cover the bowl and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours. • Make the pasta: Sift the flour into a little mound on your working area or in a bowl. Make a well in the middle of the mound and add the beaten eggs. Mix the ingredients with a fork until you have a dough that is soft and not sticky. If the dough is sticky, you may have to add a little flour. • Roll the dough into a ball, wrap it with plastic wrap, and let it rest in a cool place for about 30 minutes. • Once the dough is rested, divide it in four pieces. Take one piece at a time (keep the rest of the dough wrapped) and use a rolling pin or a pasta machine to make large, thin rectangles about 1 millimeter thick and 4 inches (10 centimeters) wide, and as long as the machine will allow you to make, while maintaining the desired thickness. • Place the rolled-out sheets of dough on a lightly floured surface, and square off the edges with a pastry cutter. The rectangles should now be about 3½ inches (9 cm) wide. • Using a teaspoon, dollop the filling on the upper half of one of the pasta strips, spaced about 1 inch apart, leaving about a ½-inch (1.25-cm) border from the edge of the pasta. • Brush the edge of the pasta with a little bit of water, then fold the strips of pasta to cover the fill- ing. Press the spaces between the filling to remove any air and to prevent the dough from separat- ing. Then cut with a pastry cutter to separate into individual tortelli. These can be made rectangular, circular or semicircular with the help of a cookie cutter. As you make them, place them on a lightly floured surface or a piece of parchment paper. • Repeat with the other pieces of dough until you finish the pasta and filling. • Cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. • Meanwhile, place the butter in a frying pan and add some fresh sage leaves. Once the leaves start to crisp, remove the pan from the heat and set aside. • When the water comes to a boil, salt it, then place a few tortelli in the water at a time, and cook until they rise to the top, 4 to 5 minutes depending on the size and amount of filling. If they do not rise, take one out and taste it to make sure it’s cooked. • Using a slotted spoon, remove the tortelli from the water and place them in the butter and sage mixture. Stir gently to coat in the butter, then plate them and dust them with grated Parmigiano–Reg- giano. On Christmas, Grazioli and his mom will share another pasta filled with tradition. Recently, they gently folded small, navel-shaped tortellini, a cherished version of the dish with a gloriously pedestrian secret ingredient: leftovers. His recipe for the filling calls for of a pound of beef, veal or other meat from a previous night’s meal, prefer- ably a stew, as a way to imbue deep flavor and align with his passion not to waste something as precious as food. The results are served on a plentiful holiday table, alongside a new roast and the promise of the coming year – and of more leftovers. “You recycle back again – and you might want it for the next Sunday!” Grazioli said. “So you keep going.” Roberto Grazioli’s Christmas Tortellini Ingredients For the pasta • About 3½ cups (400 grams) 00 flour • 4 large eggs • 8 cups (2 liters) beef broth, plus more as needed For the filling • 1 carrot • 1 celery stalk • ½ onion • 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) extra- virgin olive oil • 1 medium pork sausage (optional) • About 11 ounces (300 grams) leftover cooked beef, veal, etc. • ½ glass red wine • 1 whole clove • Fine salt • Freshly ground black pepper • ½ cup (50 grams) grated Parmigiano- Reggiano cheese, plus another ½ cup for serving • 1 to 2 large egg yolks Directions • Make the pasta: Knead the flour and eggs very well, and then let the dough rest in the refrigerator for a few hours. (Refer to previous tortelli recipe for more detailed pasta-making directions.) • Make the filling: Chop and sauté the vegetables with the extra-virgin olive oil. Cook the sausage, if using, and add the other meat. Deglaze with the red wine, add the clove and a little salt and pep- per. Add a small amount of broth, if needed, so there is enough liquid for the mixture to simmer for about 1 hour. Remove the meats from the pan and, once cold, grind them with a meat grinder (or appliance on hand). Add the cheese and 1 or 2 egg yolks to the meat mixture to bind everything together, and season with salt. • Roll out the pasta, as described for the tortelli above, about a millimeter thick. Cut the pasta into 1¼-inch-by-1¼-inch squares. Roll some of the meat filling into a log about ¼ inch in diameter. Break off small pieces, place them on the pasta pieces, and seal in triangles. Pull the corners around the tip of your thumb, and attach them to shape the tortellini. • In a large pot, bring the 8 cups of broth to a boil. Add the tortellini, and after 7 to 8 minutes of cook- ing, enjoy them – as tradition dictates – sprinkled with Parmigiano-Reggiano on top. -Continued From Page 16 Recipes From India, Brazil And Italy: D.C. Is A City Filled With Embassies, And Each Has A Special Holiday Dish Photo:MUST CREDIT: Michael Laris/TheWashington Post Grazioli’s Christmas tortellini is a festive and practical tradition