Spinach Balanzoni: a typical pasta from Bologna

"I would like to ask you if you have any information about the history of the Balanzoni recipe, which is now a popular dish in Bolognese restaurants, but, as the Bolognese I am, I don't remember ever having eaten as a child" (signed email). To tell you about the history of Balanzoni, green pasta dough filled with…

ByMonica27 January 20230Comments

COURSES First Course RECIPES

Pumpkin gnocchi (eggless) with radicchio and taggiasche

In the past, more so than today, there was a funny saying in Italian families. People used to say: "you are a pumpkin" or even "you are a zuccone (a big pumpkin)". The expression had two meanings. It could indicate both hardness of understanding and stubbornness. When I was a little girl, faced with my stubborn resistance to do/not…

ByMonica10 January 20230Comments

Christmas COURSES INGREDIENTS OCCASIONS RECIPES Seafood Soups

Fish cappelletti of Adua. Romagna stuffed pasta

Some flavors evoke positive thoughts related to people who loved us. Cappelletti di Magro makes me think of Adua. She and her home tailoring lab are among the fond memories of my childhood and adult life. Cappelletti of Romagna Cappelletti is a stuffed pasta typical of Romagna. The name literally means "little-hats". You can find cappelletti filled with meat…

ByMonica13 December 20220Comments

Maltagliati pasta with tomato and Parmigiano

Bologna Food COURSES First Course OCCASIONS RECIPES

Maltagliati pasta with tomato sauce and Parmigiano

Maltagliati with tomato sauce is a dish of memory. I remember them as strapponi, my husband as stianconi (the recipe for maltagliati is registered under this name at the Bologna Chamber of Commerce). Once, it was the pasta of the peasant families of the Bolognese Apennines. It was a typical dish of the local cucina povera consisting…

ByMonica16 November 20220Comments

COURSES First Course RECIPES

Strozzapreti pasta of Romagna: history and recipe

Strozzapreti is a typical pasta of Romagna: water and flour, without eggs. The name literally means strangler the priest. Also known as lunghet, that is, lunghetti, because of the elongated format, they are a gastronomic specialty with a history that deserves to be known. The history of Romagnoli chokes priests If lunghet simply refers to the long, thin…

ByMonica22 September 20220Comments

COURSES First Course RECIPES

Aubergine gnocchi with basil and tomato sauce

Looking at the aubergine gnocchi resting on the drying rack. The intense smell is an invitation to plunge them into the pot of boiling salted water. But they have to rest. A little like the dreams and thoughts I had in my head and didn't know I had. Everything takes time, the time it takes. About things I love and…

ByMonica22 July 20220Comments

COURSES First Course

Cookbooks and chestnut flour tagliatelle with mushrooms

Grandma's cooking was very homely and substantial. While seasoning chestnut flour tagliatelle with mushrooms, she said the flavors of the wood call to each other. So simple. But her repertoire changed on the occasion of holidays, events, and Sunday lunches. At that time, even religious precepts affected the family menu. Women's stories through cookbooks Reading and studying old cookbooks,…

ByMonica3 February 20220Comments

COURSES First Course Gluten-free INGREDIENTS OCCASIONS RECIPES Soups Sunday Lunch

Passatelli in broth. Home recipe

Passatelli is a traditional recipe of Romagna that, like me, has been adopted by Bologna. Although passatelli are very popular in Bologna, they originate in Romagna. Even at my home, albeit on the border between Emilia and Romagna, tortellini, not cappelletti, was the dish of Christmas lunch, and passatelli was the dish of Sundays and other…

ByMonica14 May 20210Comments

Bologna Food Cakes and Cookies COURSES OCCASIONS RECIPES

Sweet Tagliatelle Recipe, Typical Carnival Fried Treat

Sweet tagliatelle is a typical recipe of the Carnival season. When in Italy, fried things and frittelle are the stars of the kitchen. Maybe for that reason, grandma Sara wrote the procedure under the name of little fritters instead of tagliatelle. And that little typo makes them even more dear to me (the correct way to write…

ByMonica13 February 20210Comments

Bologna Food COURSES First Course OCCASIONS RECIPES Sunday Lunch

Goccia d’Oro lasagne. A traditional recipe

To introduce this traditional Bolognese recipe, I'll start with a fun fact. Although they are called Goccia d'Oro lasagne, which means Golden Drop, today, the golden drop is no longer an ingredient of this baked lasagna. The origin of the Goccia d'Oro lasagne Probably its origin dates back to the early decades of the twentieth century. And, at…

ByMonica14 November 20200Comments