Local specialities: tortellini, lasagna and tagliatelle

Bologna is well-known for its culinary tradition and is called – deservedly so – the home of good food. Its dishes never fail to seduce. The stars of the show are the egg pasta recipes that bring us unique dishes, such as tortellini, tagliatelle and lasagna.

For Bologna, fresh egg pasta is truly a tradition, with recipes and techniques being handed down from generation to generation. The basic ingredients are simple, flour and eggs. The difference comes in the art of rolling out the pasta, making it delicate, even and smooth to combine perfectly with rich sauces and traditional fillings.

Pasta is the main ingredient of numerous traditional recipes which have contributed to establishing Bologna's culinary reputation worldwide, starting with tagliatelle. The exact thickness of the pasta to make perfect tagliatelle was established by the Delegation of Bologna at the Italian Academy of Cuisine and filed by notarial deed on 16 April 1972 with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce. The “golden mean” was decreed to be 8 mm, corresponding to one 12,270th of the height of the Asinelli Tower in Bologna.

Then there are the tortellini, so important to the culinary tradition of the city that the recipe and ingredients for their filling are jealously guarded by the “Dotta Confraternita del Tortellino”. It is unthinkable that they should be served in anything other than broth.

Lastly there is the lasagna, layered with Bolognese ragù - meat sauce - and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and baked in the oven.

What To Eat