Anolini is a variety of meat-filled pasta with its origin disputed between the cities of Parma and Piacenza, and the most traditional way to enjoy it is in brodo - cooked in a rich meat broth. This hearty dish is an important part of Christmas traditions throughout the region of Emilia-Romagna.
The family members gather on Christmas Eve to make anolini from scratch – each one is handmade, formed by wrapping a mixture of ground meat, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and breadcrumbs in fresh egg pasta dough. This elaborate task is a great introduction for the festive Christmas lunch, when anolini are cooked in meat broth, preferably the one made in terza, meaning with three types of meat: beef, capon, and pork.
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Ravioli al salmone is a traditional dish and a type of ravioli filled with salmon and a mixture of other ingredients. Although there are numerous variations, the ravioli pasta is usually made with a combination of flour, eggs, and water, while the filling often contains smoked salmon pieces, ricotta, and chives.
The dough is rolled out into a thin sheet, and it's then cut into strips which are topped with the creamy filling. Another layer of dough goes on top, and it's sealed with water. The ravioli are then cut with a special tool, boiled in salted water, and often served in a thin sauce consisting of olive oil, lemon juice, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
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Speckknödelsuppe is a soup from the Austrian province of Tyrol. It's also popular in the Italian South Tyrol region, where it's called canederli con speck in brodo. The soup features dumplings made from stale bread and bacon, and a clear, (usually beef) broth that is cooked separately.
The dumplings are first cooked, then added to the soup which can contain additional ingredients such as carrots and leeks. When ready to serve, this dumpling soup is usually garnished with chopped chives or parsley.
MOST ICONIC Canederli con speck in brodo
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Gnocchi di ricotta e spinachi is a classic Italian dish of ricotta and spinach gnocchi. The gnocchi are made from spinach, ricotta cheese, grated parmesan, flour, and eggs. They're often spiced with ground black pepper and nutmeg. When compared to the more-known potato gnocchi, these ones are lighter and look more interesting visually.
Once prepared, the gnocchi are usually mixed with a sauce consisting of olive oil, onions, carrots, garlic, tomatoes, and fresh herbs, or with a simple sage and butter sauce. For the final touch, the dish is sprinkled with grated cheese on top.
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Gnocchi di prugne are plum-filled potato dumplings covered with a mixture of breadcrumbs toasted in butter, sugar, and cinnamon. They are very popular in the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, especially the capital city of the region, Trieste.
That part of Italy was long ruled by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so it is no surprise that this dish can also be found in the cuisines of other European countries that were once part of the same empire - zwetschgenknödels in Germany, knedle sa šljivama in Croatia, szilvas gomboc in Hungary, svestkove knedliky in Czechia, galuste cu prune in Romania, or slivkove knedliky in Slovakia.
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Malfatti (Siena) or gnudi (lit. naked, Florence) are typical of Sienese cuisine, but it's believed that they probably originated in Northern Italy. These spinach gnocchi are made by hand, and due to the fact that they are not uniform in shape or size, they're called malfatti, meaning badly made.
They are made with a combination of cooked spinach, a pinch of salt, butter, ricotta, eggs, nutmeg, parmesan cheese, and a binding agent such as flour, semolina, or breadcrumbs. Once the mixture becomes smooth, it's shaped into small balls that are rolled in flour before being boiled.
MOST ICONIC Malfatti
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These bacon dumplings originate from the Austrian Tyrol and Italian South Tyrol but are known throughout the entire Alpine region of Europe. Speckknödeln are made by mixing stale bread with eggs, sauteed bacon, and onions. They are cooked in boiling water and typically served with a hearty stew or a clear, hot soup, although they are also often consumed as an appetizer.
Speckknödeln make a great accompaniment to the Alpine dish called Gröstl, but they're also served on a bed of lettuce or over sauerkraut.
MOST ICONIC Canederli con speck
Passatelli in brodo is a specialty dish of the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy, consisting of a meat broth filled with dumplings made from cheese, bread, and eggs. This hearty soup belongs to the cucina povera (cuisine of the poor), when people used to invent new dishes with what little ingredients they had at the time.
It is recommended to pair the soup with a simple red wine such as Sangiovese.
MOST ICONIC Passatelli in brodo
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Ravioli di aragosta is a traditional dish of lobster ravioli. The dough for the ravioli is made with eggs, egg yolks, and flour. The ravioli are stuffed with a reduced combination of lobster meat, eggs, tomatoes, basil, heavy cream, white wine, olive oil, butter, garlic, and seasonings.
The combination is simmered in a stock made from carrots, onions, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, and lobster shells. Once cooked, the ravioli are served with the sauce, and it's recommended to garnish the dish with some chopped basil on top.
Casoncelli bresciani is a traditional stuffed pasta dish originating from Brescia. Dating back to the 15th century, this pasta has very thin dough that enhances the flavor of the filling, which typically consists of grated stale bread and cheese such as Grana Padano or Bagòss.
However, the filling often varies from one household or restaurant to the next. Thin pasta sheets are folded over the filling and then pressed at the edges – the process of making casoncelli is similar to making ravioli. There are a few versions of the pasta – in Camonica Valley, the filling contains meat or vegetables, in Longhena, spinach or Swiss chard is used in the filling, while the version from Barbariga has a rich filling containing breadcrumbs, grated Grana Padano, meat broth, ham, spinach or Swiss chard, garlic, sage, and parsley.
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VARIATIONS OF Casoncelli bresciani
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