I don’t know wheter you know, but if you have friends from Italy, you must have noticed how much they talk about food. Mostly at breakfast they already talk about lunch or dinner. Now, Bologna is one of the cities that is more famous for its food than for its beauty (although its beauty is wonderful, so you should pay equal attention to both factors). Another thing that you will see in Bologna if you walk through the areas that are intended for socializing and aperitifs, that every shop window that wants to highlight food is more than rich, people will immediately work up an appetite, in such shop windows you can see parmesan cheese, tortellini, tortellone, mordatella and many other delicacies from this area. I will mention only some of the delicacies that you must try if you visit this food center
What is a must try while you are in this medieval city:
Tagliatelle is a long pasta that is traditionally made by hand, we mix eggs with flour and then, using a rolling pin, open the mixture as much as possible and make it as round as possible. Then the mixture is rolled up, that is, it is folded over several times and then cut with a knife to a thickness of 7 mm. Taglietelle (verb tagliare which means to cut). What exactly is eaten with such a form of pasta? This is super important if you have come to Bologna. Don’t put yourself in the situation of saying spaghetti bolognese; I’ll have to disappoint you, that doesn’t exist here and I’m almost sure that in most restaurants you’ll be disappointed (you know how Italians are obsessed with their food). So with this form of pasta we eat ragu (Bolognese sauce) – which should be cooked for at least 6-7 hours.
Tortellini in brodo (tortellini in soup) – a typical Christmas dish. Tortellini are, I would say, one of the most complicated forms of pasta you can make, only because they are very small and should be filled with filling as soon as possible, then closed and left to dry. Tortellini are filled with a mixture consisting of Parma prosciutto, Parmesan and mortadella. If you prefer the version without soup, you can find tortellini alla panna (with cooking cream) in restaurants, I personally like this version too.
Tortelloni pasta, which looks like tortellini but is much bigger, is made quickly, but the filling is also different. We can fill them with ricotta cheese and spinach or a real winter filling with pumpkin and cheese. Mostly it is a vegetarian option. After they are cooked in water, put them in a pan with melted butter and sage leaves.
Lasagna – yes, lasagna also comes from this city, they are usually green because they add spinach to the basic mixture. According to tradition, lasagnas from Bologna have 7 layers of pasta 😊
Passatelli – I would say the simplest form of pasta to make, but no less delicious than other forms. Although it doesn’t look the most wonderful, it certainly tastes good (although those who like saltier food will like passatelli). The mixture is made from Parmesan cheese, eggs, bread crumbs and nutmeg (sometimes people add flour to make it stick better and dry later). What you will need is a small device for squeezing potatoes, and through that we squeeze the passatelli mixture. Passatelli are usually eaten in soup or they can be dried, boiled in soup and added to another sauce.
Crescentine – toasted bread that looks like mini pillows. In Modena crescentine is called Gnocco fritto, but we are definitely talking about the same thing. They are usually made when there are large gatherings or used as an appetizer in restaurants. What do you eat with crescents? The options are endless, but the most typical is mortadella, prosciutto from Parma, salami rosa, parmesan, stracchino cheese…
Tigelle are small round breads, which are made in a special pan (called a tigelliera). Tigelle are cut in the middle and filled with whatever we want, they look like little sandwiches. Here, I would add, at least in Bologna, they are often eaten with pork fat mixed with rosemary (it may sound awful) but I can assure you that it is really good. Such a combination is called pesto modenese.
Piadina is a flat round bread that looks like a white pancake 😊 Very easy to make and usually served with arugula, Parma prosciutto and cheese.
Tenerina – a cake that traces its origin from the city of Ferrara, which is located only 50 km from Bologna. Chocolate lovers must try this chocolate dessert. The word tenera in translation means soft. So tenerina is soft and fine cake, extremely low, hardly decorated except with powdered sugar.
