Bologna, the “fat” capital of Emilia Romagna is famous for a very popular dish that creates confusion outside Italy: Tagliatelle alla Bolognese. Abroad, it is often changed into “Spaghetti Bolognese”, which does not exist in Italy. The texture of Tagliatelle is particularly porous and rough, which makes it a perfect bond for the greasy Bolognese ragù sauce.
That said, we’d like to give you a less popular recipe with tagliatelle. A tipical Emilian cake called “Ricciolina or tagliatelle cake”. We hope food bloggers and foodies will appreciate it.
Ingredients (serves 4)
For the shortcut pastry:
250 g flour / 100 g sugar / 80 g butter / 1 teaspoon baking powder / 1 pinch of salt
Per the filling:
400 g almonds / 180 g sugar / 100 g candied citron and orange / 200 g butter / 50 g vanilla sugar / Sassolino liqueur or bitter almond liqueur / 80 g “amaretti” biscuits (optional)
For the dough:
200 g flour / 2 eggs / water
Procedure:
Pour the flour in a mound on the pastry board, pour the whole eggs in the centre and mix quickly with your fingertips. Knead the mixture, adding some water if you need it, then shape the dough into a small block and let it stand for one hour, covering it with a cloth. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin and let it dry slightly, roll it and make very thin Tagliatelle out of it. For the shortcut pastry: mix the flour with the baking powder and a pinch of salt, pour the mixture in a mound on the pastry board, add the egg, the softened butter cut into small pieces and the sugar, work all ingredients quickly until you get a smooth mixture, then shape it into a ball, wrap it into plastic wrap and let it stand in a cool place. For the filling: chop finely the candied fruits, the almonds (and the amaretti), then pour everything into a bowl, adding the sugar, 150 g melted butter and some liqueur. After you have obtained a smooth mixture, roll out the shortcut pastry and place the layer of pastry into a baking tin greased with butter, then pour the filling, levelling it with the back of the spoon and cover everything with the small tagliatelle, pouring on them the remaining melted butter and the vanilla-flavoured sugar. Cover the cake with baking paper and bake at 170° for 30 minutes; halfway in the cooking process remove the paper, so that the tagliatelle can brown, then sprinkle them with icing sugar.
Katia Perdicaro, Co-Founder of Emilia Storytellers
