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Plate of Casoncelli alla Bergamasca topped with crisp pancetta and sage butter sauce.

Casoncelli alla Bergamasca

Handmade Casoncelli alla Bergamasca brings Bergamo’s traditional flavours home with sausage, mortadella, and cheese wrapped in soft pasta and tossed in butter, sage, and crisp Speck.

Course: Main
Cuisine: Italian
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Author: Manuela Zangara

Ingredients

Pasta

  • 2 eggs
  • 200 g – 7 oz all-purpose flour

Filling

  • 200 g – 7 oz Italian sausage
  • 100 g – 3.5 oz mortadella
  • 80 g – ¾ cup breadcrumbs
  • 20 g – 3½ tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano – finely grated
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2 tbsp parsley – chopped
  • Salt – to taste

Sauce

  • 80 g – 5½ tbsp butter
  • 6 sage leaves
  • 4 × 1 cm – ½ inch thick slices of Italian Speck or Pancetta – cubed
  • Parmigiano Reggiano – finely grated, to serve

Instructions

Filling

  1. Put the sausage, mortadella, garlic, egg, and parsley in a mixer and blend. Add the breadcrumbs and blend again.
  2. Stir in the milk and grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
    Mixing sausage, mortadella, garlic, breadcrumbs, and cheese to make the Casoncelli filling.
  3. Season with salt to taste and set the filling aside.

Casoncelli

  1. Make the Casoncelli following my tutorial on How to make Casoncelli.

  2. Set them aside.
    Shaped Casoncelli arranged on a tray before cooking.

Sauce

  1. Put the cubed Italian Speck (or Pancetta), butter, and sage in a small saucepan. Melt the butter over medium heat and gently fry the Speck and sage.
    Pancetta cubes and sage leaves cooking in melted butter in a frying pan.
  2. Remove from the heat as soon as it starts to bubble (remove it before it browns, since browned butter will change the flavour).

Assembling

  1. Cook the Casoncelli following the steps on How to cook pasta al dente.

    Note: The exact cooking time will depend on the thickness of your Casoncelli. Freshly made pasta cooks in just a couple of minutes, while pasta made hours earlier may take 8 to 10 minutes. The best way to tell is to taste it. Check the sides, where the pasta is thicker; it should remain firm and al dente.

  2. Drain the pasta using a colander.
  3. Arrange the Casoncelli on a serving plate, drizzle with the warm butter and Speck sauce, and serve immediately with finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano on top.

Recipe Notes

If you have leftover pasta sheets, wrap each one tightly in cling film or plastic wrap, seal them in a Ziploc bag, and freeze for future use.