Traditional recipes
Reggio Emilia
Cappelletti (Caplét)
It is worth pointing out that every family in Reggio follows its own tradition with its own ingredients
Spinach tortelli
Green tortelli are a regional Emilia dish and typical of the Reggio Emilia area. It is a stuffed pasta: the filling (or stuffing) is made of spinach or green chard combined with seasoning, cheese and ricotta.
Pumpkin tortelli
Pumpkin tortelli are the Po valley's iconic dish, popular, with few variations, in the provinces of Mantua, Parma, Reggio Emilia, Piacenza and Cremona.
Pasta rasa - Pastarèsa - Pasta resa - Pasta regia
A hard mixture of eggs, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and bread crumbs (grated on a Cheese grater) seerved in meat stock
Bomba di Riso (Rice Pie)
The Bomba di Riso (Rice Pie) is a traditional dish from the cuisine of Emilia Romagna and Lunigiana (a region in the northern part of Tuscany. Its version is typical of the Reggio Emilia area, particularly the mountains. It is a recipe that is perfectly suited to the cold months.
Erbazzone
Erbazzone reggiano is made with simple ingredients, that any country housewife would have once had to hand, and is basically a pastry shell containing a vegetable filling.
Chizze
Chizze are a special snack typical of Reggio Emilia whose origins are probably associated with the influence of the Jewish community.
Casagai
Casagai or Cazagai is a dish once widely used in farming families, when one of the dishes was the staple food of polenta and little else
Riso con la tritura, minestra del paradiso, ris cun la tràdura, ris coun la terdura, riso e tevdura
Cook the rice in a good meat broth and cooked, add one egg well beaten with 50 grams of parmesan cheese and a slight hint of walnut moscata.
Stuffed meat (Reggio Emilia recipe)
Tasty, simple and cheap recipe to prepare for the Christmas menu: a roll of meat stuffed with omelette, bacon and spinaches
Coniglio reggiano
The Reggio Emilia rabbit is a dish included in the list of the Emilia Romagna traditional agroindustrial products.
Green sauce for "boiled meat"
Recipe from the area near the Po river. It was mostly used in the farmers' families to season the hen and the boiled meat, and usually cooked on Sundays.
Valigini reggiani, valisein, verzot
Reggio Emilia valigini are roulades stuffed with meat and cheese, also known - in the old days - as "flown away little birds". They belong to the list of the agroindustrial traditional products of Emilia Romagna region.
Rice cake
It is a dessert with a very high nutritional content, very appreciated and widespread in the Reggio Emilia cuisine, which has the advantage of being cooked within a short time.
Brasadela da acqua - Brasadela - Busilan
This is a very simple and typical dessert made at home, that is shaped like a large doughnut. Its main ingredients are flour, water and eggs, the same ingredients used to make bread.
Zuppa Inglese - Trifle
Zuppa Inglese (Trifle) is a dessert pudding whose origins are very old. In the nineteenth century it used to be made with sponge cake soaked in liqueur such as alchermesand rosoli, and then layered with crème patissière.
Christmas cakes - Biscione
The Biscione (big grass snake) traditionally reigned supreme at Christmas and Boxing Day feasts. It contains: almonds, sugar, eggs and candied fruit,
Intrigoni "intrigòun"
Typical sweets of Reggio Emilia Carnival, the intrigoni (intrigoun in the local dialect) are also known as "chiacchiere" or "frappe".
Christmas cakes - Tortellini fritti e al forno (Fried and baked small pies)
Christmas sweets filled with either crème patissière, jam or Christmas filling.
Grapes juice and savurètt (pear-juice jam)
These "juices" actually resemble a thick jam. They were created by farmers during the grape harvest and are now eaten as an elegant dessert. Flour is added so that the "juices" are particularly nutritious.
Brescello
Christmas cakes - Spongata
This is a cake of ancient origins which some people date as far back as Roman times when Petronius Arbiter described this type of cake in his Satyrico.
Casalgrande
Black cake Reggio
Courtesy of the Badessa restaurant