Traveling along the Via Emilia from west to east, we recommend 7 ideas in the kitchen when traveling to Emilia Romagna: simple if you want, but tasty and to be made or taken to our traveling homes.
Let’s start our journey …
Macaroni alla Bobbiese – Macaròn fàt cón l’angùcia

We are in Val Trebbia, in the Piacenza area, in Bobbio: ancient tradition has it that the thin strips of dough that are obtained from the dough, are first cut into pieces and then rolled around a knitting needle or a large needle. Understood because “macaroni made with Angucia” (ie the needle). Excellent served with mushroom and sausage ragout or stew.
Do you want to try to make them? Here is the recipe for 4/5 people
250gr. of durum wheat semolina – 250gr. double zero flour (or all flour 0 flour)
3 eggs
salt q b and a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, a tablespoon of water
mix everything and prepare the macaroni
On a work surface, put the flour on a pastry board, in the center put the eggs and oil or butter, wet with a little water, if necessary, and knead. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest. After half an hour you take it back and form sticks about a finger size and, after having cut them into pieces of about 3-4 cm, you thread them in a lightly floured knitting needle then, pressing them lightly with your palms, you slide them on pastry board back and forth. When it is about 10 cm long, gently remove the macaroni and arrange them on a floured cloth so that they do not dry out too much.
For the gravy – try sausage and mushrooms
250gr. of pork sausage
70gr. of fresh or dried porcini mushrooms previously soaked
olive oil – half a glass of dry white wine
Preparation
Brown the sausage in the oil and the mushrooms, add the wine and deglaze well. Cook everything for at least an hour by adding a little hot water if the sauce dries too much. Cook the macaroni in boiling salted water for 4/5 minutes and once cooked, drain them and pour them into a large bowl with the sauce still hot and… enjoy your meal!
Omelette with Felino salami

We are in Parma and precisely on the first hills in the small (not too much) town of Felino. Here we find the king of lean pork sausages, preserved and eaten raw, salami. It is a product with the IGP brand and followed by strict regulations to guarantee its quality and above all the “good name”. We offer you this really tasty recipe, which you can make on any occasion.
Few and simple ingredients for 2/3 people
100 gr of feline salami cut into slices before and into cubes after
4 eggs – 50 gr Parmesan cheese – 125/150 gr cow’s milk ricotta to taste – breadcrumbs to taste – oil and salt
Preparation
Break the eggs into a large bowl, add salt and (add pepper if you like) the Parmesan cheese, ricotta and salami. Put the mixture in a well greased pan or ovenproof dish, sprinkle it with breadcrumbs and pour all the mixture into it. Put in a preheated oven at 180 ° for about half an hour or when you see that it is well cooked and golden at the right point. You can also use the pan, like a classic omelette.
You can serve it hot with vegetables as you like or cold, if you like it in the summer, with a nice colorful salad.
Parmigiano Reggiano biscuits
The arlia that has snaked in Emilia for centuries and centuries is ancient: but is the famous cheese made in Parma or Reggio Emilia? Instead, we put them in agreement and in the Reggio Emilia areas we find these biscuits created with the cheese that has always reigned supreme on these tables. Whether accompanied with bread, pasta or main courses and even, with this recipe, with desserts and even as ice cream, it lends itself well to numerous culinary preparations, do you agree?
Let’s prepare them together!
100 gr of Parmigiano Reggiano – 200 gr of flour – 2 pinches of salt – 200 gr of butter
Preparation
In a large bowl mix the flour, cheese and salt (and if you want to add a pinch of pepper to taste). Add the soft butter and work all the dough with your hands until it forms a nice soft and homogeneous dough. Make a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and put it to rest in a cool place for about half an hour. Take back the dough, roll it out with a rolling pin and with a pastry cutter or with the wheel for tortelli, create ovals of about 3/5 mm. Put them in a preheated oven at 180 ° for 5/6 minutes and only when the top is golden brown.
Let’s continue with the ideas in the kitchen when traveling to Emilia Romagna
Traditional balsamic ice cream
The key ingredient for this recipe is Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena DOP: we are in the land of engines and flavors (dare we say) and that of balsamic vinegar is superb. It goes well with any type of recipe and pay attention only to making the right combination. Here we propose a very tasty and very simple end of lunch.
In the kitchen, then!
250 ml of whole milk – 250 ml of cream – 100 g of sugar – 2 egg yolks – a pinch of salt – 1 tablespoon of traditional PDO balsamic vinegar
Preparation
In a saucepan pour the milk, cream, salt and sugar and egg yolks. Mix everything well and put on the fire removing before boiling. Let it cool and put it in the ice cream maker and at the end the mixture will be very solid to add the balsamic vinegar. You can also add a few drops to the dough, if you want to give it more flavor.
Mousse of mortadella
Let’s go to the beautiful Bologna and we cannot forget the mortadella: we find traces of it on a tombstone of the ancient Roman kept in the Archaeological Museum where a butcher is portrayed who pounds the meat in the mortar and it was created here and it seems that it owes its first name. Since July 1998, at a European level, the name “Mortadella Bologna” has been recognized as a protected geographical indication (PGI). Think how far he has come … Today we offer you a delicacy to offer as an aperitif or as an appetizer and you will amaze your guests, try it!
In the kitchen, the recipe
300 gr of mortadella cut into small cubes – 100 gr of cow’s milk ricotta – 10 gr of Parmesan cheese – a tablespoon of cream
Preparation
Take a mixer and put the mortadella, ricotta and parmesan in it. Blend everything until you get a homogeneous mixture and add the cream, mixing well. The mousse is ready and with a spoon or a pastry bag, you can put it on bread or croutons or to fill cream puffs or to spread on crescentine.
Savoy cabbage rolls with rice and salama da sugo
We conclude our journey in the splendid Ferrara by preparing this second dish with salama da sugo, a symbol of Ferrara cuisine produced exclusively in some, non-tulle, localities of the province. It is a cured meat with strong flavors because in addition to obviously ground pork with red wine, aromas such as pepper, nutmeg, cloves, nutmeg are added, thus giving a unique and tasty flavor to this excellence. Recognized as Igp or Protected Geographical Indication, it boasts a rigid disciplinary that regulates, not only the ingredients and the production area, but also and especially the proportions and variants.
What is needed and how to make our bundles
Before cooking our salama da sugo together with the cabbage, we must first proceed with the cooking: we make our own the words and indications of Luca Melloni of Sapori Ferraresi. Then we need:
200 gr of salama da sugo cooked and cut into cubes – 200 gr of boiled rice – 1 finely chopped onion – 1 cabbage – 50 gr of tasty provolone cheese – chilli, thyme, salt and pepper – a sachet of saffron if you want
Preparation
Blanch 4/6 cabbage leaves in boiling salted water for a few minutes. Drain them and let them cool. Separately in a pan, brown the onion with the oil, cut the rest of the cabbage and with salt and pepper, sauté everything. Turn off the heat, add the rice, saffron and salama cubes. Mix all the ingredients well. You put this mixture in the center of the leaves and close them by making small bundles, with the string to be more united or without anything. Put the dumplings to cook in the oven or steam for at least half an hour and serve them with a drizzle of raw extra virgin olive oil or, if you want to make them stewed, first sauté a simple sauce with onion and tomato. However, they should be served hot and perhaps accompanied by a good red wine.
Are we finished with ideas in the kitchen when traveling to Emilia Romagna?
Of course not! To tell the truth there would be many other beautiful ideas in the kitchen when traveling to Emilia Romagna: we have chosen only those that at this moment seemed easier to do (even and maybe while we are traveling) and that they came to mind. But you will see that then the list will get longer. If you have any to propose to us, we will gladly mark them.
Keep in mind that they are traditional recipes and as we always say, everyone makes them at home following both their experience but also their taste, so let’s not dwell on rules and manuals, it is not our intent.
Now we wish you a tasteful journey! Why as we say? A trip is not a trip without a little taste.