Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, when enslaved Texans finally learned of their freedom – two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, establishing the date as a federal holiday.
Juneteenth has a red-themed culinary tradition, from crimson hibiscus tea to Sea Island red peas, which reflects its West African ancestry and the creative resilience of those who, despite hardship and scarcity, developed a celebrated cuisine.
Navigating the intersection of allyship and appropriation is a delicate balance for a white author writing about Juneteenth culinary customs. My goal is to celebrate the legacy of Black liberation and food traditions with respect and humility, avoiding any form of whitewashing. Given that food acts as a profound record of both resistance and survival, I hope I have approached this task with requisite reverence.
Based on a dish I created for my restaurant’s tasting menu, this week’s recipe is a red beet tortellini en brodo, filled with a collard-goat cheese filling and served in a pot-likker brodo.
Tortellini en brodo originates from the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy. It is a stuffed pasta in a golden broth. However, this interpretation honors the Juneteenth custom of featuring red foods by infusing the pasta dough with the deep magenta hue of beets.
Collard greens, long a staple of the southern table, serve as the centerpiece of this dish. The filling combines these greens with tangy goat cheese, while the broth is the nutrient-rich pot likker. Historically, this delicious liquid – produced by simmering greens with smoked meats – provided essential nourishment for enslaved people, while choice cuts were reserved for the main household.
Red beet tortellini en brodo
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients:
For the red beet pasta dough
2 medium red beets
1 large whole egg plus 3 egg yolks
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons of semolina flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
For the braised collard greens
2 bunches of collard greens, stemmed and sliced into 1-inch ribbons
1 tablespoon bacon fat or canola oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
10 cups of water
1 large smoked turkey wing or ham hock
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt to taste
For the collard and goat cheese filling
2 cups cooked, stained, and finely chopped collard greens (reserve the braising liquid for the brodo)
4 ounces soft goat cheese
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and black pepper to taste
Preparation:
Tightly wrap the beets in foil and roast in a 400-degree oven for one hour. When cool, remove the skins with paper towels.
Chop the beets into small chunks and purée in a mini food processor or blender until completely smooth. You will need about ½ cup of smooth beet purée.
On a clean work surface or large cutting board, mound your flour and create a wide well in the center.
Pour the whole eggs, egg yolks and ½ cup of beet purée into the well. Add the salt. Using a fork, gently whisk the eggs and beet puree together in the well, gradually incorporating the flour from the sides.
Once a shaggy dough forms, switch to your hands. Knead the dough vigorously for about 10 minutes, until it is smooth, elastic, and uniformly vibrant magenta. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes or refrigerate overnight.
In a large stockpot, heat the bacon fat or vegetable oil. Sauté the onion and celery with a pinch of salt. Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes more. Pour in the water and add the smoked turkey wing (or ham hock), collard greens, apple cider vinegar, and red pepper flakes. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover partially and let it simmer gently for at least 2 ½ to 3 hours. The liquid should reduce by about a third. Taste and adjust for salt.
Drain the greens through a fine-mesh sieve, reserving the braising liquid (pot liquor) for the brodo.
Squeeze the collard greens dry in a clean kitchen towel and finely chop two cups. In a medium bowl, mix the collard greens, goat cheese, Parmesan, nutmeg and black pepper until completely smooth and homogenous. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag (or a zip-top bag with the corner snipped) and set aside.
Cut your rested pasta dough into four equal pieces. Work with one piece at a time, keeping the rest covered so they don’t dry out.
Flatten the dough down onto a floured work surface and shape it into a half-inch-or-thinner rectangle. Run your dough through a pasta machine, starting at the widest setting. Then fold your dough into thirds, like folding a business letter. Do the folds two more times, running through the widest setting. Then one run through each number down to the second to last.
Divide the pasta sheet into three-inch squares and place a chickpea-sized portion of filling in the center of each. To shape the tortellini, fold each square into a triangle, ensuring any air is pressed out before sealing the edges securely. Bring the two lower corners together by wrapping them around your finger and pressing to overlap, then gently tilt the top corner back to create the signature hat shape.
Place the finished tortellini on a baking sheet dusted with flour. Repeat with the remaining dough.
When ready to cook, reheat the reserved pot likker in a saucepan. Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle boil. Drop the tortellini into the boiling water. Cook for about two to three minutes; they will float to the top when they are done. Remove them carefully with a slotted spoon.
To serve, divide the hot, cooked red tortellini among wide-rimmed soup bowls. Ladle the pot likker broth around the pasta. Finish with a grating of fresh Parmesan cheese if desired.
As you sit down to enjoy this dish, take a moment to savor the flavors and textures. The initial taste is the smoky, vinegary punch of the brodo – a flavor profile instantly recognizable to anyone raised on Southern Sunday dinners. Then comes the bite of the pasta: al dente, and a bit earthy from the beets. Finally, the filling bursts forward, rich with the tang of goat cheese and collard greens.
It is my sincere hope that this dish serves as a reminder: celebration is not about erasing history but about paying tribute to it through creative reinvention. By reinterpreting traditional dishes with flavors rooted in the past, I hope to have created a culinary metaphor for Juneteenth. May your table be a place of liberation, vibrant color and deep love this Freedom Day.
After retiring from a 40-year career in dentistry at age 66, Dr. Peter Glatz embraced his lifelong dream of becoming a professional chef. For the next seven years he gained hands-on experience in highly regarded kitchens nationwide. His transition from the exacting world of dentistry to the inventive world of culinary arts is a testament to the possibility of reinvention by teaching cooking classes at Prairie Fruits Farms and Creamery in Champaign.
This article appears in June 11-17, 2026.
