When we decided to buy our house in Grizzana Morandi, we knew next to nothing about the town, and we were only vaguely familiar with the region, south of Bologna, in Emilia-Romagna.

I had visited Bologna a few times over the years, mainly on my way home from Florence, but was unaware of its status as the culinary capital of Italy.

We moved in last summer, and immediately began renovating the house and cleaning up the overgrown garden.

The house had been empty for years, so there was plenty to do, such as installing a kitchen and updating the electricity. In the weekends, we visited local flea markets and worked on getting to know the neighbouring towns.

One day, two enormous ceramic pots arrived by delivery. I had accidentally ordered two of the largest size, more than one metre tall and weighing more than a hundred kilos each. Our house sits on the side of a mountain, and the driveway is almost a hundred metres long, with a steep slope , and moving them seemed like an impossible task.

The driver left the two pots by the side of the road, and disappeared. We were left standing next to them, not sure how or where to move them.

Suddenly, a woman appeared on the other side of the road, coming out of Trattoria nel Castagneto, which we hadn’t had a chance to visit yet.

She asked (in English) if we needed help; her father had seen what happened and wanted to lend a hand.

Soon, her father had gone and gotten a cart, and a few of their guests had interrupted their lunch to help us out. We found ourselves surrounded by a group of enthusiastic, older, Italian gentlemen, who seemed to know exactly how to transport the gigantic pots down our driveway.

It might seem strange, or at least impolite, that we hadn’t said hello to our new neigbourbors before. It’s true that we had been preoccupied, but I was also embarrassed by my lack of Italian, which had led me to stalling. I didn’t want to meet them until I had at least a basic understanding of the language.

The incident with the pots turned out to be the ice-breaker we needed. Ever since, we visit the trattoria, sometimes several times a week. Cristina’s parents speak only Italian, so eating there has turned into a welcome language class. More often than not, the conversations revolve around food. You could say that I learned Italian through food, and that I discovered the culinary traditions of Emilia-Romagna by learning Italian.

At the trattoria, Cristina’s mother Anna does most of the cooking (while Cristina is the baker), their menu reflecting the traditional Bolognese cuisine.

One day, we asked them to teach us even more, and so they invited us into their kitchen, where we made tortellone, Crescentine, and Raviole Bolognese, while Cristina explained the cultural context of what we were doing.

What’s the difference between “tortelloni” and “tortellini”?

Tortellini are smaller – any word that ends with -ini means that it’s small – and more common. Tortelloni are larger and can have different fillings. They’re made from the same type of dough, based in eggs and flour. Sometimes, you need to add a little bit of water, depending on the size of the eggs.

Today, we’re making a filling with ricotta and parmegano, typical for this area. But if you go to Castiglione dei Pepoli, thirty minutes south of here, you’ll see that they do tortelloni filled with potatoes and parmegano, called “tortelloni con patate”. This is because historically, they didn’t have the same access to cheese, while we, in Grizzana, have always been closer to Bologna with its farmers and markets.

There’s also “tortelloni di magro”, filled with ricotta and spinach. This is because in other parts of the region – even in Bologna – you can find balanzoni. They look like tortelloni but they have mortadella and ricotta inside, so the filling is a hybrid between tortelloni and tortellini. Usually, the balanzoni are made with a cream dough and are green on the outside, a colour that comes from spinach or nettle.

Once you’ve boiled the tortelloni, it’s time to sauté them, in tomato sauce. We pick the tomatoes in my parents’ garden.

What else do you like to do with nettle?

I like to pick nettles and then boil them, squeeze the liquid out – it’s very tasty! In Italian, nettle is called “ortica”. We have a lot of them around here. You can use the whole plant, I like to use the seeds when you bake bread, which is something I learned from a German friend, because it’s not traditional here.

We pick it when it sprouts, early in spring, then it’s fresh and very rich in iron. I like to drink the water that we boil it in, it’s a great way to get iron and it’s very good for your skin. It refreshes and detoxes you.

We live in a part of Grizzana called Castagneti, which translates to “chestnut groves”. I’ve always found this very poetic! But there’s also a practical aspect to it, what do you do with the chestnuts that grow here?

We roast the chestnuts and put them in alcohol. My mother makes a syrup, with orange peels, lemon peels, cinnamon, cloves, water, sugar, and brandy. In Italy, we use a liquid that has an alcohol level of 96 percent, that you can find in most grocery stores, and she mixes the syrup with this. It tastes amazing!

There are two types of chestnuts, and you need the marroni kind, which is a kind of hybrid chestnut. They produce larger and sweeter chestnuts. You can see the difference because marroni are a lighter shade of brown compared to chestnuts.

ell me about the making of the pasta dough for the tortelloni.

We do long strings of pasta, then we cut the pasta into squares and after that, we fill and fold them into tortellone.

Tradition says that when you roll the dough for tagliatelle, you have to be able to see the San Luca through the dough, that’s how you know it’s thin enough. San Luca is the large church on a hill just south of Bologna and an important symbol of the city.

Once the dough is very thin, you cut it into large squares and then add the filling, which today has ricotta, parmigiano, eggs, salt, nutmeg, and parsley.

You have to press all the edges carefully, so the filling doesn’t come out when you cook it, which you do for perhaps three minutes.

What about Crescentine?

It’s a local type of bread, very traditional in this region. Basically, it’s a filo dough, and every family has its own recipe. We call the bread Crescentine because “crescere” means “to rise” in Italian; that’s what the dough does when it reacts to the boiling oil.

In the past, they used to fry them in lard, as many people kept pigs. It was a way to not waste anything after slaughter, and not to waste oil, which was very expensive.

Crescentina is made with flour, milk, some cream, and baking powder. It’s still very popular! You can eat it with cheese, cured meat, pickled vegetables, or jam.

It used to be a staple among poor people, but now it’s everywhere and even served at local Michelin restaurants. It’s a process that’s not uncommon. For example, Gli Stianconi is a very traditional dish in the Apennines, thick sheets of pasta, with irregularly shaped cuts. The sauce used to be made with only tomatoes and onions.

In the past, it was a very simple dough made from flour, a lot of water, and a few eggs, but now, when we serve it at the restaurant, we make the dough in a richer and tastier way, using more eggs. The sauce is also more elaborate, for example we’ve added cloudberries.

And lastly?

Raviole bolognesi are a type of biscotto very typical for the Bolognese cuisine. I learned to make this as a child, from my grandmother, who taught me at home. And on Saturdays, we had a youth group at the church, where we would bake together.

I use icing sugar because I want a very smooth dough, but you can use normal sugar if you want, just beware the result won’t be as good for this type of biscuit. I always use baking paper, to avoid making a mess.

You take a little bit of jam and then you fold the dough. In Bologna, you can find it made with mostarda, a jam usually made at the end of summer with pears, apples, plums, and some spice, like cinnamon, pepper, and nutmeg. Everything is mixed together, and then I sprinkle some sugar on top.

It’s something we usually eat after dinner, especially around Christmas and for Father’s Day.

“Hospitality, hearth ,and beauty” / Visiting Al di là del Fiume

A few days after our cooking class, we received a message from Cristina, wondering if we wanted to go with her to Al di fà del Fiume, a biodynamic vineyard in Marzabotto.

It can be a bit tricky to find, as it’s not one but two places, one foresteria and one osteria.

The foresteria (meaning guesthouse) is on Via Porrettana, the road that connected Emilia with Tuscany before the A1 was constructed. Here, there’s space for “agri campers”, people who travel in campers and spend the night in rural areas. They can stay here for free, paying only for the use of the toilet and if they wish to buy any of the fruits and vegetables that are sold here, together with homemade marmalade, vinegar, and pasta.

The foresteria includes a large farmhouse, dating back to 1838, with traditional hotel rooms. There’s also a private villa with two double bedrooms, for those wishing more privacy.

As it sits on the pilgrim trail Via Francesca della Sambuca, between Bologna and Pistoia, the foresteria has a dormitory with room for twelve guests, open to pilgrims and woofers (visitors that travel to work on organic farms).

The foresteria overlooks the Reno River, and beyond the river, you can see the Monte Sole natural park.

The name “al di là” (“beyond” in English) refers both to the park beyond the river and the fact that when you arrive here, you feel like you leave one world behind to enter another, more connected with nature.

None of the rooms have TV and there is no WIFI on the compound. However, it’s only a few minutes’ walk from the train station, and the train reaches Bologna in less than 40 minutes.

“I wanted to create a place that was like your grandmother’s house in the countryside”, co-owner Danila explained as she showed us around the estate. “When people first arrive, it might take them a few minutes to adjust, but when it’s time to leave, they don’t want to go.”

From the foresteria, it’s only a short drive to the Al di là del Fiume’s osteria, on the other side of the river, with breathtaking views of the valley.

We sat down on the terrace to taste the wines, while Danila explained her thoughts behind her work:

“The new generation is looking for something different and wine is losing attraction. We’re trying to understand how to adapt to this, so we can help the farmers and the people in the industry, so we can continue with this style of life. It’s not just about sales, but about taking care of the land, and making wine the natural way. This change is not only occurring in Italy but is a worldwide shift.”

She continued:

“Today, so many people live alone, they sit by themselves in front of a screen. Coming together with friends, sharing a bottle of wine means talking and exchanging ideas. Creating connections. That’s why we do what we do here, to offer a space for people to meet and get to know one another, especially the young generation, who need to understand what they’re missing. In Italy, having a glass of wine, with good food in a beautiful place, is part of our way of life.”

The red Ridarola (“to laugh without knowing why” in the local dialect) wine is made by Daniela’s son, who grew up here and now is part of the winemaking team.

He wanted to create something light and fresh and with a lower alcohol level to suit the peers of his generation. This ambition is also reflected on the label, showing people coming together.

Another favourite among the ones we tried is the Dagamò, made from 100 percent Barbera grapes, indigenous to the region, with a fresh, mineral taste.

All wine is matured either in inox stainless steel tanks or terracotta amphorae. In the cellar below the osteria, the amphorae stand in straight lines, symmetrically placed on a floor of red tiles.

“The Etruscans were pioneers in the use of terracotta amphorae for wine storage and transportation, and so we decided to arrange them a bit like in a museum, as a nod the Etruscan history of the region,” Danila explained.

You don’t have to be a guest at the foresteria to eat at the osteria. It’s open in the weekend for dinner, often with music.

Recently, they also acquired the right to conduct wedding ceremonies, so if you’re in the mood to get married, this is a good option.

Recipes

Raviole bolognesi

55gr flour (type 00, which in Germany translates to 405 and in France 145)

125gr icing sugar

125gr butter

3 eggs, size L (about 65 gr per egg)

15gr baking powder

1 pinch of salt

Lemon zest or vanilla extract

For the filling: jam (it has to be quite firm)

To decorate: egg wash and sprinkles or sugar granules

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Melt the butter, add the eggs, and combine the liquid ingredients. Pour on the dry ingredients, stir to incorporate the liquids, then quickly kead avoiding to warm up the dough. Roll it about 0,5 cm thick, use a round cookie cutter to cut circles. Pour half a teaspoon of jam (the quantity of jam can vary according to the size of the cookie cutter; the bigger, the bigger, the fuller raviola) in the middle of the circle. Fold the raviola into a half-moon. Brush some egg wash on the raviola, then add some sprinkles on top. Bake at 170 °C for 15 minutes.

Sfoglia

1 egg

100gr flour

The quantity of eggs depends on how much dough you need. When you prepare egg noodles, the dough has to be elastic, but soft. It doesn’t stick to your hands when you knead it. Once you ‘ve formed the big ball of dough, let it rest at least 15 minutes (ideal is a freezer bag to avoid the direct contact with air, which makes the surface of the dough dry and wrinkly)

Tortelloni (filling)

350gr ricotta

150gr Parmigiano Reggiano, grated

1 egg (if needed, if the ricotta is very dry, add another egg to the mixture)

1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped

A dash of nutmeg

Salt to taste (if needed)