Spoja lorda (or sfoglia lorda) is a fresh pasta typical of Romagna, filled with ricotta cheese and served with broth.
In dialect, “lorda” means “dirty”, and the origin of its name comes precisely from the fact that this pasta, when cooked into the broth, tends to open up and release its creamy filling, thus soiling the broth and making it even tastier!

Among egg pastas, it is one of the easiest to make: a warm, real treat during the winter season.

Here’s how to prepare it.

Ingredients for 4 persons

200 g all-purpose flour
2 eggs
200 gr ricotta cheese
100 gr Grana Padano cheese
salt
pepper
nutmeg
cinnamon

Time: 40 minutes + 30 minutes resting

Let’s cook!

Prepare the dough with the flour and eggs, form a loaf and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. Prepare the filling with the other ingredients. The consistency should be soft and easy to spread on fresh dough. Set aside at room temperature.

Roll out the pastry as rectangular as possible, then spread the filling on half the pastry with a knife. Then fold in the remaining empty pastry sheet, sealing carefully and allowing the air to escape.

With a serrated pastry cutter, cut out strips all equal in width horizontally then vertically, thus making many filled squares about the same size.

Let the pasta dry for an hour, then cook it in the hot broth, better if don’t separate the squares but placing them directly into the broth still attached to one another.
Serve with lots of Grana Padano cheese (or Parmigiano Reggiano).

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