Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

Sweet tortelloni from Bologna. A Carnival recipe

Sweet tortelloni, usually fried, is a specialty of the Bologna Carnival. On the other hand, Carnival means fried food. Each city has its own mask and a handful of fried treats. Castagnole is probably the most widespread and versatile Italian Carnival sweets. Zeppole and chiacchiere belong mainly to the Southern Italian tradition, while frittelle (fritters) are more…

ByMonica19 February 20250Comments

COURSES INGREDIENTS Legumes RECIPES Soups

Giugetti pasta in bean stock. Cucina povera of Romagna

Giugetti is an identity dish of the cucina povera of Romagna. Known as giugetti, giogetti, or patacucci, they belong to the large family of maltagliati and manfrigoli. They are small squares of sfoglia matta (eggless) cooked in a brodo matto (meatless broth) . This forgotten dish was typical winter eating in the second half of the 19th…

ByMonica28 January 20250Comments

COURSES First Course INGREDIENTS OCCASIONS RECIPES Seafood Sunday Lunch

Eggless potato gnocchi with clams. Cucina povera of Romagna

Online, you can find dozens of recipes for potato gnocchi with clams posted by as many Italian food bloggers. In this way, the recipe is everyone's and no one's. Yet, like so many other dishes, this one has its own history that no one remembers or that some people spread with mistakes attached, like the ones…

ByMonica14 January 20250Comments

Cheese COURSES INGREDIENTS OCCASIONS RECIPES Soups Sunday Lunch

Spoja lorda in broth (cheese stuffed pasta squares)

The cheese-filled squares of spoja lorda I put to dry on the pasta dryer look like puzzle pieces. In recent years, I have first scattered them on the table and then reassembled these pieces to create a new mosaic, more colorful and interesting, something in which I wanted to recognize myself again, feeling happy and proud…

ByMonica4 January 20250Comments

COURSES Desserts Gluten-free INGREDIENTS OCCASIONS RECIPES Sunday Lunch

Potato pudding, a recipe from cucina povera (without flour)

Sweet potato pudding is a recipe that belongs to my family's repertoire and to the cucina povera of Bologna and Romagna, an area where potatoes are a traditional product and were historically part of the food diet of the poor people. I can still hear my maternal grandmother's voice as she laces up her apron, remembering…

ByMonica28 December 20240Comments

Cakes and Cookies Christmas COURSES OCCASIONS RECIPES

Spongata cake, an old Christmas recipe from Emilia

Spongata cake is a recipe from Emilia that has very ancient origins. Signs of its ancestors can be traced to Etruscan, Jewish, and Roman cultures. In medieval times, nuns and monks reworked the recipe. Little by little, and that is the history of all the panspeziale (spice cakes) and panforte of Europe, the spongata cake left…

ByMonica6 December 20240Comments

Christmas COURSES First Course INGREDIENTS Meat OCCASIONS RECIPES Sunday Lunch

Macaroni pie of Ferrara (pasticcio di maccheroni)

The macaroni pie, known as pasticcio di maccheroni alla ferrarese, is a traditional dish with very ancient origins. Because of this, it has undergone many modifications over the centuries. The current version combines medieval features with modern reinterpretations. The external shell is a sweet, shortcrust pastry; the filling is made with macaroni seasoned with a white…

ByMonica21 November 20240Comments

Bologna Food Breakfast and Merenda Cakes and Cookies Christmas COURSES Fruits INGREDIENTS OCCASIONS RECIPES

Sabadoni cookies from cucina povera of Romagna and Bologna

Sabadoni cookies are sweet, rectangular-shaped tortelli filled with chestnuts and a handful of other ingredients. They are a typical sweet from the cucina povera of Romagna, which we can find under the same name or under that of chestnut tortelli in an area that also includes Bologna and Ferrara. The name sabadoni comes from saba, the…

ByMonica7 November 20240Comments

Breakfast and Merenda OCCASIONS RECIPES

Bread of The Dead (piada dei morti). A typical fall recipe

The bread of the dead (piada dei morti) is a typical autumn cake from Romagna, particularly from the province of Rimini and the municipalities of San Mauro Pascoli, Gatteo, and Savignano sul Rubicone in the province of Forlì-Cesena. This piada, which, despite its name, resembles a focacia, has a sweet dough and is typical for the…

ByMonica26 October 20240Comments

Erbazzone Reggiano (swiss chard pie). A treasure recipe from Emilia

Appetizers COURSES Main Course RECIPES

Erbazzone pie (swiss chard pie). A treasure recipe from Emilia

There is a land with indefinite borders, which is the South of the North and the North of the South: someone calls it Emilia (E. Berselli, Italian writer born and raised in Emilia) The city of Reggio Emilia is the birthplace of one of the most satisfying Italian snacks: erbazzone or scarpazzone , a hearty, savory…

ByMonica2 May 20240Comments