Despite its name, this dessert is traditionally eaten in Romagna. There are several variations in the different towns of Romagna.
Ingredients for 6 people:
400 g of sponge cake or sponge fingers. Prepare a yellow and a chocolate custard by mixing 4 egg yolks with 4 spoonfuls of sugar and 2 spoonfuls of flour.
Gradually add half a litre of hot milk flavoured with the zest of half a lemon. Bring to the boil and cook for a few minutes until the cream thickens.
For the chocolate cream, follow the same procedure, but add 4 tablespoons of bitter cocoa at the beginning.
Place a layer of sliced sponge or ladyfingers soaked in alchermes in a casserole dish, cover with a layer of yellow cream, then another layer of sponge or ladyfingers soaked in rum and a layer of chocolate cream. Continue in this way until all the ingredients are used up.
Before serving, place the zuppa inglese in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
A typical autumn recipe using one of the most popular and forgotten fruits of Romagna. Remember that Volpine pears must be eaten after cooking. They are a hard, grainy, tannic and acidic fruit, rich in fibre and should always be eaten after cooking, usually in wine or water.
Ingredients:
About 8-10 Fox pears, 1/2 litre of Sangiovese wine (it must cover the pears well), 8/10 tablespoons of sugar, half a spoonful of olive oil, half a glass of water, a good pinch of cinnamon, a few cloves.
Place the pears in a not too large saucepan, lining them up closely, cover with the Sangiovese wine and half a glass of water, add the sugar, cinnamon and cloves and cook over a moderate heat. Cook until the pears are soft and can be pierced easily with a fork and the wine has become syrupy. Serve the pears with the Sangiovese syrup. To keep them for longer, put them in jars with the hot syrup, close them and leave them to cool.
Typical Romagna soup with which Easter was once celebrated.
Ingredients for 6 serves:
6 eggs, 100 g breadcrumbs, 150 g grated Parmesan cheese, a pinch of salt, two pinches of nutmeg.
Direction:
Tardura is a delicious local speciality that takes just a few steps to prepare. First, gather the ingredients and make sure you have about two litres of meat stock on hand.
Mix the flour, eggs, grated cheese and spices.
Heat the meat stock and when it starts to boil, reduce the heat slightly and add the tardura mixture, stirring continuously.
Continue stirring for a few minutes until you see the tardura flake off and form small bright yellow islands in the broth. This is the sign that the tardura is ready to be served.
Traditional cake prepared in winter to mark the pig-slaughtering ritual.
Ingredients:
one litre of fresh, lump-free pig’s blood. Heat the milk, 300 grams of sugar, a half orange or lemon zest, 70 grams of peeled and coarsely chopped almonds, 50 grams of chopped chocolate, a little grated nutmeg and 1 whole egg.
Boil for a few minutes, stirring continuously, then remove from the heat.
As soon as the mixture has cooled down, add the pig’s blood and 100 grams of diced candied fruit. Stir well and cook in a bain-marie, without boiling, until the blood begins to thicken.
In the meantime, make a regular shortcrust pastry with 300 grams of flour, 3 eggs, 150 grams of sugar and the grated rind of half a lemon. Line a greased baking tin with the shortcrust pastry and pour the mixture into it. Sprinkle it with sugar and bake in a moderate oven for about 2 hours.
Typical sweet of the Forlì area linked to the Easter festivities.
Ingredienti:
500 g flour
2 eggs
5 tablespoons of acacia or millefiori honey
40 g of olive oil (or 1 tablespoon of lard)
150 g milk + about 40 g to dissolve the yeast
25 g fresh brewer’s yeast
2 tablespoons of sultanas
A generous pinch of salt
Water to taste, if the flour absorbs a lot of the liquid part
1 egg yolk to brush the surface
zest of an organic lemon and/or 1 teaspoon aniseed left in cold water for an hour
In una ciotola, impastate 4 cucchiai di farina con il lievito sciolto in 40 g di latte tiepido, poi coprite con pellicola e fate riposare per un’ora. Passata l’ora, unite in una ciotola tutti gli ingredienti (anche le uvette ammorbidite in acqua calda per una decina di minuti e la scorza di limone) e aggiungete, infine, anche il lievito sciolto nel latte. Impastate per circa 10-12 minuti, fino a ottenere un composto morbido ed elastico. Fate lievitare l’impasto coperto e fuori frigorifero per 2 ore. Ungere una teglia rotonda e dai bordi alti. Versate l’impasto senza lavorarlo, incidete la superficie formando una croce e fate riposare per altre due-tre ore, sempre coperto o chiuso nel forno. Preriscaldate il forno (avendo cura di spostare l’impasto se lo si è messo lì a lievitare) a 160 gradi, funzione statica. In una tazzina mescolate il tuorlo con qualche goccia di acqua e spennellate la superficie della pagnotta. La pagnotta è cotta quando la superficie è color corteccia, tipo pan brioche.
Typical winter drink made with red wine, preferably Sangiovese.
Directions:
Boil the wine with sugar, cinnamon, cloves and plenty of lemon zest. When it comes to the boil, turn off the flame.
This drink should be drunk hot and cures a strong cold, constipation or mild flu very well.
A typical sweet baked during the carnival period.
Ingredients:
200 g flour
2 eggs
50 g sugar
40 g lard or butter
1 sachet of vanillin
Lemon zest
1 tablespoon liqueur (alchermes) or wine
1/2 sachet of baking powder
1 pinch of salt
Combine the sugar and salt, then add the eggs and lard and work the dough by hand well, so that the lard dissolves. Pour in the liqueur and knead the dough for 1 minute, then add the baking powder and grate the zest of half a lemon. Knead well until the mixture is smooth. Leave to rest for 15 minutes. Then form small balls slightly larger than a chestnut (hence the name castagnole) and fry them in a deep pan, a few at a time, turning them well, for about 3 minutes. They can also be baked in the oven, placing them on the baking tray covered with baking paper for about 6 minutes at 200 degrees. When finished, the castagnole can be sprinkled with sugar, icing sugar or Alchermes.
Typical carnival period pastry.
Ingredients:
flour 240 grams
butter 30 grams,
finely crushed sugar 30 grams,
eggs 2,
a pinch of salt.
Incorporate the ingredients and knead them with your hands. Let the dough rest and roll it out with a rolling pin to a thickness similar to a piadina sheet. Cut into strips about 10 or 15 centimetres long and weave them together. Cook in a pan with oil and lard. Once ready, sprinkle with sugar before serving. Serve the sfrappole or frappe with hot zabaglione, liquid honey or with saba, cherry, black cherry, currant, strawberry and raspberry syrups.
Typical dish of the traditional Truffle Festival in Dovadola.
Recipe for 4 people: Wheat bread 200 grams, extra virgin olive oil, truffle, salt and pepper.
Cut the bread into thin slices and toast in the oven for a few minutes. Thinly slice the truffle and put a small pan with plenty of olive oil on the stove. Bring it to a high temperature and immediately turn off the flame. Now place the truffle in the hot oil, add salt and pepper and spread it on the bread slices.
Typical recipe for the traditional truffle festival in Dovadola.
Recipe for 4 people: 4 eggs, truffle, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.
Fry the eggs in a frying pan with olive oil; when they are half cooked, add the truffle, washed, cleaned and sliced, and season with salt and pepper.
Typical recipe for the traditional Truffle Festival in Dovadola.
For 4 people: 500 grams of tagliatelle, preferably homemade according to Romagna tradition, extra virgin olive oil, a knob of butter, truffle, two tablespoons of cooking cream, salt and pepper, grated parmesan cheese.
Preparation: Cut the truffle into thin slices and place a pan with plenty of olive oil and butter on the heat. As soon as it starts to boil, turn off the heat and sprinkle the truffle with salt and pepper.
Artusi’s original recipe, available in several restaurants in Forlimpopoli.
After washing the rabbit, cut it into pieces larger than the ones you want to fry and put it on the fire in a casserole dish to drain; when it is dry, add a knob of butter, a little oil and a mixture of finely chopped liver, a small piece of dried meat and all the spices: onion, celery, carrot and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
When it is browned, moisten it with water and tomato sauce or preserves and cook it, adding a little butter at the end. Use the sauce to make a soup of pappardelle or parmesan strips and serve the rabbit with a little of the sauce as a second course.
If you do not want to season the soup, there is no need to add dried meat to the mince.
Original recipe by Pellegrino Artusi.
Passatelli in broth. Typical soup of Romagna.
Ingredients for 4 people: 2 eggs, 200 g of Parmesan cheese, 300 g of breadcrumbs, nutmeg, a pinch of salt.
For the broth: put an ox bone, two pieces of beef, a wing and a chicken foot in plenty of cold water. Bring to the boil, skim off the scum and add salt. Add a sprig of rosemary, 1 carrot, 1 stick of celery, 2 onions and 3 cherry tomatoes. Reduce the heat and cook for 2-3 hours. Turn off the heat, remove all solids, leave to cool and lightly degrease the surface, then strain through a sieve.
Knead all the ingredients into a firm dough. Form a ball and leave to rest for an hour. Bring the broth to the boil and mash the dough with a suitable tool (half-moon or potato masher), dropping the passatelli into the broth. When they rise to the surface, remove from the heat and serve.
Macaro’ con l’ai’ (Pasta with garlic) is a traditional dish that was originally eaten by the lower classes. It is prepared in summer when fresh garlic is less spicy.
Ingredients for 4 people:
Chop the garlic cloves and fry them gently in plenty of oil (they should not brown, if necessary add a tablespoon of water). When the garlic has softened, crush it with a fork, add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, salt and pepper. Cook the sauce on a low heat and with a lid, add a ladle of water and continue cooking for about 1 hour. Chop the parsley and add it to the sauce at the end of cooking time. Preparation for the pasta: roll out a sheet of 4 eggs a little thick with a rolling pin. When dry, roll it up (same procedure as for preparing tagliatelle) and cut the pasta first into strips (about 3 cm wide) and then the strips into squares. Throw the pieces of pastry into salted water, drain as soon as they boil and season with the sauce.
Typical pasta filled with potatoes
Ingredients
For the pastry: 500 g flour, 4 eggs, salt.
For the filling: 500 g potatoes, Parmesan cheese, garlic, 100 g bacon, salt, pepper.
For the sauce: Melted butter, grated Parmesan cheese or meat sauce.
Boil the potatoes after washing, but without removing the skin. Peel them while they are still hot and mash them with a potato masher. Fry the finely chopped bacon with the oil and garlic and add the potatoes. Mix everything together and season with salt and pepper. Roll out the pastry in the traditional way, preferably with a rolling pin. Cut the dough into 10x6 cm small squares. Place the filling in each one. Fold the pastry so that the filling always remains in the middle. Then fold over the longer side and squash it with your fingers. Now shape the tortello, closing it tightly with your fingertips, but being careful not to break the pastry. Cook the tortelli in plenty of salted water for about 10 minutes. Dress them with melted butter and plenty of grated Parmesan cheese.
Typical dish from Romagna, in broth or dry.
For each egg: (considering one egg per person)
50 gr. breadcrumbs,
25 g grated Parmesan cheese,
25 g grated Predappio Alta Grotta cheese
1 knob of butter (about 10 g)
1 pinch of nutmeg
lemon zest to taste
salt as needed
meat broth
Break the eggs in a bowl, add the nutmeg, lemon, cave cheese, breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. Knead everything together until the mixture is smooth and rather soft. Once the broth has been brought to boiling point, pass the mixture through the appropriate tool (or, in its absence, in the potato masher) and drop it into the pot. Cook for about two minutes, turn off and let it rest for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Ciambella is, together with zuppa inglese, the most common and popular dessert in Romagna.
Recipe for 6 people:
500 g flour,
300 gr sugar,
100 gr butter
100 gr margarine
a knob of lard
3 eggs
1 sachet baking powder
grated lemon peel
milk to taste
(The doses are generous, but this way the cake comes out sweet and fluffy)
Knead the flour with the softened butter, margarine and lard, eggs, sugar and enough milk to make a firm dough. Finally, add the baking powder and lemon scent and finish kneading. Grease an oven mould, pour in the mixture, brush the surface with egg yolk and bake for about half an hour. Remember: no lunch or snack will be truly complete without ending with a delicious slice of ciambella, especially if enjoyed dunked in a good glass of Albana.
Sweets filled with cream and chocolate soaked in Alchermes.
Ingredients:
250 g flour 00
100 g butter
90 g sugar
12 milk
6 baking powder
1 egg (medium)
1 pinch salt
200 g pastry cream (chocolate or classic, use whichever you prefer).
q.b.alchermes
q.b.sugar (for the topping)
On the pastry board, make a well with the flour, put the soft butter, egg, sugar, salt and milk in the centre. Knead the ingredients in the centre of the fountain then add the flour a little at a time, add the yeast and knead briefly, just long enough to mix the ingredients. Make 15 g balls, place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper and flatten them slightly. Bake the peach shells at 165° for 8/10 minutes, they should cook but should look pale. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Prepare one thick yellow and one chocolate custard. Fill each shell with a teaspoon of custard, pair them up two by two and put them in the fridge to firm up. After a couple of hours, sprinkle them generously with alkermes (be careful not to soak them otherwise the pastry will break), place them on a plate lined with paper towels and let them rest for 5 minutes so that they lose the excess liquor. Coat them in caster sugar and place them in the ramekins.
Typical speciality of the Tuscan-Romagna Apennines.
The name of the product comes from the “lastra”, the rough sandstone on which the tortelli were placed to cook.
The appearance is that of a large square tortello, about 1 cm thick and varying from 10 to 20 cm on each side, with a strong flavour.
In the past, their preparation was linked to the ripening of the pumpkin, but today, according to the original recipe, they can be eaten from October to April.
The dough is made by mixing wheat flour with the water from the pumpkin, while the filling traditionally includes pumpkin, potatoes, garlic, onion, bacon, lard and pecorino cheese, to which Parmesan cheese is usually added.
Every year in autumn, Santa Sofia hosts the traditional Tortello alla lastra festival.
A typical tortello stuffed with potatoes cooked on a slab, to which the festival held in Tredozio in November is also dedicated.
Ingredients
For the pastry:
1 kg of flour
1 cube of brewer’s yeast (25 grams),
enough water for kneading.
For the filling:
1 kg potatoes,
100 grams of pork belly
100 g grated cheese (pecorino or seasoned cheese),
salt, pepper, seasoning.
Boil the potatoes and separately fry the bacon. Combine the bacon with the potatoes, grated cheese, salt, pepper and seasoning and mix until smooth. For the pastry, pour the flour into a well on the pastry board and add water and yeast. Mix the dough into a ball. Roll out with a rolling pin until the dough becomes a thin sheet. Cut out squares and fill them with the previously prepared potato mixture and finally close, forming a tortello. Cook the bartolacci on the griddle. A very tasty alternative to the potato filling is pumpkin. Bartolaccio is a typical dish of Tredozio gastronomy that is still handed down today. This dish is celebrated during the festival held every year on the first and second Sundays of November.
Tasty polenta recipe with beans, leeks and bacon.
The ancient cuisine of Tredozio, carried over to the present day, was characterised by humble dishes, such as paciarela. Its strength lay in the simple soup, enriched with pieces of meat or vegetables.
The paciarela can be enjoyed at the Bartolaccio festival held every year on the first two Sundays in November.
Ingredients:
1 kg maize flour,
2 or 3 leeks,
200 grams of beans,
200 g pork bacon.
Soak the dried beans in water overnight, drain them and boil them. Separately, fry the leeks cut into julienne strips and the bacon into cubes, then add the previously boiled beans, add a little water and cook until the water has dried up. Prepare the polenta by boiling the water and adding the flour slowly, taking care to mix everything together to avoid lumps. Leave the polenta soft and when it is ready, season with the boiled beans, stir and serve.
Can’t find what you are looking for?
Have you found incorrect or missing content?
Send a feedback to the Tourist Information Office of the relevant Municipality. Go to the tourist offices page.