If you’ve ever had someone’s tortellini in brodo using those vile dried tortellini you find in American stores and cooked in canned, fat free, low salt, industrial broth, you will hesitate before ordering this dish in an Italian restaurant.
Don’t. This is a fine dish when made from scratch by capable hands. Tortellini come from Bologna, Italy’s culinary capital. The source of older hens is adequate that chicken broth in Italy can have an extraordinary flavor. The dish can be made with any meat broth though and is a big winner when the seasons get colder.
This primo piatto is also lighter than most pastas on the Italian menu.