Culinary specialities from Romagna
Sangiovese: A red wine grape variety which is the most important grape grown in the Romagna region.
Piadina: a traditional flatbread made with flour, lard, salt and water, typically filled with various local ingredients such as cheese, cured meats or vegetables.
Pagadebit: A type of white wine made from the Bombino Bianco grape, known for its ability to withstand difficult growing conditions and provide a reliable yield for winegrowers.
Romagna Albana: A white wine made from the Albana grape, one of Italy’s oldest grape varieties and native to Romagna.
Passatelli: a traditional pasta dish made with breadcrumbs, Parmesan, eggs and nutmeg, typically served in a broth.
Piadina Romagnola: Another name for piadina, a popular and traditional street food in Romagna.
Cagnina: A sweet red wine made from Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso grapes, often served as a dessert wine.
Saba: A syrup made by reducing grape must, used as a sweetener or to garnish various dishes.
Gnocco fritto: a fried bread dough typically served as an accompaniment to cold meats, cheeses or other savoury dishes.
Passito di Romagna: a sweet wine made from dried grapes, resulting in a complex and concentrated flavour profile.
Traditional dishes from Romagna
Typical dishes from the Romagna region are:
Piadina Romagnola: a thin flatbread baked on a terracotta baking tray and filled with ham, cheese, vegetables or Nutella.
Romagna-style cappelletti: fresh pasta stuffed with meat, often served with meat stock.
Lasagne from Romagna: layers of fresh lasagne sheets alternated with meat ragù and béchamel sauce.
Passatelli: a sort of gnocchi made from bread and grated cheese, served in meat stock.
Oven-baked potatoes: potatoes cut into slices and baked in the oven, seasoned with rosemary, garlic and olive oil.
Potato gnocchi: potato gnocchi served with tomato sauce, meat ragù or butter and sage.
Onion soup: a soup made with onions, toasted bread and meat stock.
Piada with squacquerone: a piada filled with squacquerone, a fresh cheese typical of the region.
Porchetta-style rabbit: roast rabbit stuffed with garlic, sage, rosemary and lemon.
Mora Romagnola: a breed of black pig native to Romagna, often served as a roast.
These are just a few examples of typical dishes from Romagna, but there are many more to discover in the region.
Some recipes from Emilia-Romagna
Romagna’s cuisine is characterised by a wide variety of tasty, traditional recipes. Here are some of the typical recipes from Romagna:
Romagna-style piadina: The piadina is the symbol of Romagna cuisine. Made with flour, lard, salt and water, it is cooked on a special griddle called a ‘testo’ and filled with cold cuts, cheeses, herbs or even sweet fillings such as Nutella.
Passatelli in broth: Passatelli are small dumplings made by mixing grated Parmesan, eggs, breadcrumbs, lemon zest and nutmeg. They are cooked in meat broth and served as a first course.
Lasagne from Romagna: Lasagne from Romagna is different from the traditional version. It is made with sheets of egg pasta, meat ragù and béchamel sauce. During baking, it is generously sprinkled with grated Parmesan.
Romagna-style cappelletti: Romagna-style cappelletti are small tortellini stuffed with meat, usually served in capon stock. They are a traditional dish for the Christmas season.
Romagna-style fish soup: This fish soup is made with various types of fresh seafood, such as prawns, squid, mussels and clams. It is enriched with fresh tomatoes, garlic, parsley and white wine.
Romagna-style strozzapreti: Strozzapreti are a type of fresh, handmade pasta shaped like a spiral. They can be served with a meat sauce or seasonal vegetables.
Salama da sugo: This cured meat is a traditional speciality of Ferrara. Salama da sugo is a pork sausage flavoured with spices such as cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg, which is cooked in tomato sauce for several hours.
These are just a few of the many traditional recipes from the Romagna region. Every area of Romagna has its own speciality dishes, but they all share the use of simple, wholesome ingredients. Enjoy your meal!
The typical Mora Romagnola is a breed of cattle native to the Emilia-Romagna region, found mainly in the province of Forlì-Cesena.
The Mora Romagnola
Characteristics of Mora Romagnola beef:
- The meat is a deep red colour.
- It has a tender and juicy texture.
- It is rich in marbling – that is, fat interwoven throughout the meat – which helps to enhance its flavour and tenderness.
- It is very tasty and popular with both chefs and consumers.
Traditions associated with the Mora Romagnola:
- The Mora Romagnola has historically been used as a working animal in agriculture, particularly in the lowland fields, but in recent decades it has become renowned for the production of high-quality meat.
- The culinary tradition of Romagna includes the preparation of traditional dishes made with Mora Romagnola pork, such as ‘Bollito misto alla romagnola’, a dish of boiled meat served with sauces and side dishes.
- The Mora Romagnola is also used in the production of the region’s traditional cured meats, whilst its milk is used, for example, to make ‘Squacquerone di Romagna’, a fresh, creamy cheese with a delicate flavour that is often eaten alongside Mora Romagnola meat.
In short, the Mora Romagnola is a breed of cattle prized for the quality and flavour of its meat. The culinary tradition of the Emilia-Romagna region calls for this meat to be used in the preparation of traditional dishes and in the production of traditional cured meats.
Squacquerone: characteristics and how it is made
Squacquerone is a soft, fresh Italian cheese, typical of the Emilia-Romagna region. Its main characteristics are its creamy texture and delicate flavour.
Fresh whole cow’s milk, rennet and salt are used in the production of Squacquerone. After the milk has been pasteurised, rennet is added to coagulate the proteins, and the curd is then cut into small pieces. The resulting curd is then gently worked to preserve its creaminess, and a small amount of salt is added to flavour the cheese. Finally, the cheese is packaged and wrapped ready for sale.
Squacquerone has a very short maturing period and is eaten fresh or slightly fermented. It is usually spread on bread or piadina and can be used as an ingredient in various dishes from the Emilia-Romagna region, such as piadina romagnola, tortellini or passatello.
Il Squacquerone è riconosciuto come prodotto DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta) e può essere trovato sia in forma industriale che artigianale. La sua produzione è diffusa principalmente nella zona dell’Emilia Romagna, in particolare nelle province di Modena, Bologna, Reggio Emilia e Rimini.
La piadina romagnola
è un tipo di pane piatto tradizionale della regione italiana dell’Emilia-Romagna. È un alimento molto versatile che può essere farcito con vari ingredienti come salumi, formaggi, verdure, ecc. La sua ricetta è relativamente semplice e richiede solo pochi ingredienti di base.
Ecco una ricetta classica per la piadina romagnola:
Ingredienti:
500 grammi di farina bianca
3 cucchiai di olio extravergine di oliva
10 grammi di sale
10 grammi di lievito in polvere
circa 200 ml di acqua
Preparazione:
In una ciotola grande, mescolare la farina, il lievito e il sale.
Aggiungere l’olio extravergine di oliva e iniziare ad incorporarlo con le mani nella farina.
Aggiungere gradualmente l’acqua mentre si impasta fino ad ottenere una consistenza elastica ed omogenea. Aggiungere acqua in più o in meno a seconda della consistenza della pasta.
Lavorare la pasta per circa 10 minuti fino a quando diventa morbida ed elastica. Coprire con un canovaccio e lasciare riposare per almeno 30 minuti.
Dividere l’impasto in palline delle dimensioni di una palla da golf e stenderle a forma di cerchio sottile, di circa 20 cm di diametro.
Scaldare una padella antiaderente a fuoco medio-alto e cuocere ogni piadina per circa 2-3 minuti su ogni lato, finché non diventa dorata e presenta delle bolle.
Farcire la piadina a vostro piacimento con salumi, formaggi, verdure o altri ingredienti. Ripiegarla a metà e servirla calda.
Caratteristiche della piadina romagnola:
È un pane piatto, simile ad una tortilla o a un chapati, dunque non ha una crosta come il pane tradizionale.
Ha un sapore leggermente neutro e molto versatile, che si adatta perfettamente a diversi tipi di ripieni.
È preparata con farina, olio, acqua, lievito e sale, ingredienti semplici e facilmente disponibili.
Viene cotta in padella o su una piastra calda, senza l’uso del forno.
La sua consistenza è morbida, ma può essere leggermente croccante e malleabile.
È spesso servita come street food o come piatto principale in sostituzione del pane in un pasto.
Lo strutto caratteristiche e produzione
Le caratteristiche del lardo possono variare a seconda dell’alimentazione degli animali e delle tecniche di preparazione utilizzate. In generale, si presenta come una sostanza solida, di consistenza untuosa e colore bianco. Il suo sapore è intenso e saporito, grazie alla presenza di sali minerali e acidi grassi saturi.
La produzione del lardo avviene attraverso varie fasi. Inizialmente, si selezionano le parti migliori e più grasse del maiale. Il grasso viene poi tagliato in pezzi più piccoli e cotto lentamente a fuoco basso, per far sciogliere il grasso e separarlo dalla parte magra. Successivamente, il grasso fuso viene filtrato per rimuovere eventuali impurità, come piccole particelle di carne o residui. Infine, viene versato in contenitori, lasciato raffreddare e solidificare.
Il lardo viene utilizzato principalmente in gastronomia per insaporire e arricchire i piatti, in particolare quelli di origine italiana. È spesso impiegato per preparare lardo o pancetta arrotolata, utilizzata per insaporire e aromatizzare diversi tipi di carne, come arrosti o brasati. Inoltre, il lardo viene utilizzato per la creazione di salumi, come il prosciutto crudo, spesso avvolto da uno strato di lardo che contribuisce a conferire sapore e morbidezza al prodotto finale.
