During the Middle Ages, pasta became particularly appreciated and common. We find many recipes in the cookbooks, from the most simple methods (for example, lasagna recipes) to growing levels of complexity. Among the most interesting dishes, we find pies (prepared with meat, fish, vegetables or fruit) tortelli and ravioli. While the method to prepare dough is similar for all of these plates (usually, they are made kneading the flour with water, sometimes adding eggs), the differences are in the size, shape, and filling.
Today we prepare green ravioli from the 14th-century cookbook conventionally called Anonimo Veneziano: pasta stuffed with spinach and chard mixed with cheese and spices.
Green was one of the favorite colors for the foods.
There are many green preparations, for example, sauces, flans, pies, and ravioli. The ingredients were all the herbs that were available in the Old World: chard, spinach, nettle, parsley, mallow, mint, dandelion, borage, and many others, cultivated or wild. You can choose the green leafy vegetables you prefer to prepare this dish, according to your taste.
Tortelli and ravioli prepared with beet, spinach or nettle, usually mixed with hard cheese and ricotta, then served well buttered and sparkled with cheese and black pepper, are still a very common and traditional Italian dish. There are a few differences with their medieval ancestor, more spiced and particularly interesting.
Below, you will find a note about the ingredients and the original text of the recipe with the English translation. Enjoy!
If you want to know more about historical pasta, read our book Early Italian Recipes. Cereals, bread, pasta, and pies, where you will find historical information about cereals and their preparations from the Antiquity to the end of the Renaissance, with 114 recipes for pasta, bread, pizza, pies, and more, newly translated and explained.
If you are interested in late-medieval cuisine, we recommend Libro de la Cocina. Medieval Tuscan Recipes and Registrum Coquine. A medieval cookbook. To learn about the transition between ancient and medieval cooking, check out De Observatione Ciborum, written by the physician Anthimus to the king of the Franks Theuderic. If you are interested in recipes for vegetables from the Antiquity to the beginning of the Modern Era in Early Italian Recipes. Vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers available in English and Italian.
For information about ancient cuisine, read Ancient Roman Cooking. Ingredients, Recipes, Sources. Moreover, full translations of historical sources and articles on ancient and medieval cooking are available on Patreon.
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Ingredients
chard
spinach
fresh cow cheese
aged pecorino
one egg
200 grams re-milled durum wheat semolina
sweet and strong spices (ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, black pepper, long pepper, cinnamon leaves)
chicken broth
Method
Peel and mince the ginger, then grind the other spices in the mortar.
Parboil the chard and spinach. As soon as they start to boil, remove them from the water.
Mince the vegetables and mix with fresh cheese, grated pecorino, one egg, and the spices. Add a pinch of salt if the cheese is not salty enough.
Now, prepare the dough kneading the semolina with warm water and two pinches of salt. For two dishes of ravioli, we used 200 grams semolina. Roll a thin pasta sheet and cut it out with a glass. Fill the pasta and close it well with your finger, if you prefer, moistened with water.
Cook the ravioli al dente in the broth, then plate them coated with grated cheese and ground spices. The cooking time depends on the thickness of the sheet, the kind of flour you used, and the hardness of the dough.
Note about the ingredients
The anonymous author recommends using strong and sweet spices. We used the spice mixes he suggests in his cookbook: strong spices (cloves, nutmeg, black pepper, and long pepper) and sweet spices (ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and cinnamon leaves). Among them, you can select the ones you prefer.
The recipe says nothing about the kinds of cheese, except that they have to be fresh and aged.
Usually, we have scarce information about the shape of the ravioli, often decided by the cook. In this case, the author gives us an important direction: he says we have to use a cup (mizolo in the original text) to cut it out.
Pasta in the Middle Ages was usually cooked in broth. You can prepare the broth with meat (beef, chicken, pork) or fish. You will obtain a better result with a fat broth. We suggest seasoning it with spices, selected among the ones of the two mixes described above.
You can use any kind of flour. Re-milled durum semolina will help to obtain a harder dough, better in taste.
Original recipe
Se tu voy fare rafioli de herbe o de altre manere, toy herbe e mondale ben e lavale; po’ le alessa un pocho e trali fuora e spremali ben fora l’ aqua e batelli con el cortello e poy in mortaro e toy del caxo frescho e passo, ova e specie dolze e forte e mena ben inseme e fay pastume e poy fay la pasta sotille a modo de lasagne e toy uno mizolo largo e fay i rafioli. Quando sono fati mitili a choxere e quando è ben cocti polverizage suso specie asay con bon caso assay e son boni assay.
Translation
To make ravioli with herbs or other ingredients, take herbs, clean and wash them. Later, parboil them for a little time, remove from the water, and strain well, then mince with a knife and put in the mortar. Mix with fresh and aged cheese, eggs, and sweet and strong spices. Knead a thin sheet of pasta like lasagna’s and cut it with a big cup, then make ravioli. Cook them and serve sprinkled with a good amount of spices and cheese. They are very good.
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Books
Early Italian Recipes. Cereals, bread, pasta, and pies
Libro de la Cocina by Anonimo Toscano. Medieval Tuscan Recipes
Early Italian Recipes. Vegetables, fruit, herbs, and flowers
De Observatione Ciborum by Anthimus. Early-medieval recipes at the court of the Franks.
Registrum Coquine by Johannes Bockenheim. A medieval cookbook
Ancient Roman Cooking. Ingredients, Sources, Recipes
Translations of Historical Sources
De Agri Cultura by Cato – first part (2nd century BCE)
De Re Coquinaria by Apicius (Ancient Rome)
Apicii Excerpta by Vinidarius (5th or 6th century)
De Observatione Ciborum by Anthimus (6th century)
Appendicula de Condituris Variis by Johannes Damascenus (8th or 9th century)
De Flore Dietarum (11th century)
Tractatus de Modo Preparandi et Condiendi Omnia Cibaria (13th or 14th century)
Liber de Coquina – first part (14th century)
Enseignemenz (14th century)
Opusculum de Saporibus by Mainus de Maineris (14th century)
Libro de la Cocina by Anonimo Toscano (14th century)
Anonimo Veneziano (14th century)
Registrum Coquine by Johannes von Bockenheim (15th century)
Libro de Arte Coquinaria by Maestro Martino – parts 1-4 (15th century)
Recipes
Tuscan Chicken Soup with Unripe Grapes
Early-medieval Kohlrabi Stew
Tuscan Fried Leek Rings
Pork Ribs
Tuscan Pancakes with Wild Flowers
Hop Shoots
Shrimp – Savore de Gambari
Orange Frittata – Fritata de Pomerantiis
Tuscan Soup with Hen and Florence Fennel
The diet of the Franks – Celery Root and Beef Stew
Tuscan Fish Cakes – Salciccie di Pescio
Tuscan Stew with Pork Belly and Rutabaga
Pork and Onion Soup
Tuscan Radish Soup
The Diet of the Franks – Endive and Pork Jowl
Tuscan Fried Meatballs
The Diet of the Franks – Chicken Stew
Castagnazzi
Renaissance Stuffed Cucumbers
Pork Roast with Cherry Sauce
Renaissance Fried Tomatoes
Herbolata
The Diet of the Franks – Beef Stew
Fried Chicken Soup
Beef Roast with Garlic Sauce
Bread Soup
Salted Meat and Peas
Baghdadi Rice Cream
Chicken with White-Pepper Sauce – Piperatum Album
Indian Chickpeas and Meat
The Diet of the Franks – Pork Stew
Chestnut and Mushrooms
Lentils with Oregano and Watermint
Egyptian Bread with Pistachios and Almonds
Veal with Fennel-Flower Sauce
Pork Roast with Green Sauce
Eggs Poached in Wine
Brodium Theutonicum
Crispellae – Pancakes with Saffron and Honey
Brodium Sarracenium – Chicken Stew
Fava Beans and Pork
Erbe Minute – Meatballs with Herbs
Lettuce and Pork Soup
Zanzarelli – Egg and Cheese Soup
Turnip and Beef Soup for Servants
Cheese Pasta – Vivanda Bona
Gratonata – Chicken Stew
Chickpea Soup with Poached Eggs
Apple Fritters
Hippocras and Claretum – Mulled Wine
Pastero – Pork Pie
10th-century Goat Roast – A Langobard at the Court of the Byzantine Emperor
Romania – A Recipe Between Arabic and Italian Tradition – Medieval Chicken with Pomegranates
Emperor’s Fritters
Medieval Pizza – The Origin of Pizza
Roast Chicken with Salsa Camellina
Sweet Rice
Afrutum or Spumeum – 6th-century Byzantine recipe
A Medieval Breakfast – Wine, Carbonata, and Millet Bread
Salviata – Eggs and Sage
Tria di Vermicelli
Cabbage Soup
Frittelle Ubaldine – Pancakes with Flowers and Herbs
Saffron Cheesecake
Drunken Pork – Early Medieval Pork Stew
Medieval Monk’s Stuffed-Egg Soup
Apple Pie
Onion Soup
Gnocchi
Lentils and Mustard Greens
Chicken soup – Brodo Granato
Turnip Soup
Beans and Bacon – Black-Eyed Peas
Prawn Pie – Pastello de Gambari
Foxtail Millet Polenta and Spit-Roasted Goose
Beef Stew
Blancmange
Leek Soup
Quail Stew with Coconut
Chicken Pie
Ravioli
Almond Cream
Red Mullet Soup
Spit Roast Beef with Arugula Seeds
Walnut Bread
Lasagna
Tripe
Fried Fish
Roast Lamb with Green Sauce
Clams
Sweet and Sour Sardines
Trouts with Green Sauce
Lamb Stew
Quails with Sumac
Chicken with Fennel Flowers
Sea Bream
Historical Italian Cooking 