The Province of Rovigo is located in the Veneto region in the northwestern section of Italy. Rovigo lies in the southern part of the region in the Po Valley and is crossed by two major rivers: the Po and the Adige. It is a land where a dense network of canals, drainage units, reclaimed lands and plantations coexist with nature. A quiet world, where silence is only interrupted by the sound of birds and the flow of the Po River.
The Medieval influence can be seen in the towers that look over the cities in the province, such as the tower in via Pighin and the two leaning towers: Donà – one of the highest Italian towers – and the Mozza tower. The Cathedral dedicated to St. Stephen preserves many sculptures and paintings. The National Archaeological Museum contains Etruscan and Roman artifacts.
True to Italian tradition, many feasts and festivals are held throughout the Province of Rovigo, celebrating age-old customs that still flourish today. Strawberries, wheat and polenta are just some of the foodstuffs that are featured in these festivals in addition to the traditional Christmas and Easter celebrations. The Sagra degli Aquiloni (Kite Festival) is an event dedicated to children with prizes for the most beautiful and the highest-flying kite. The carnival celebration in Fratta Polesine might be one of the most beautiful events. The parade of carnival floats, games and events among the monuments of the old town on the last Sunday of carnival is very popular, as is the carnival cuisine.
Many crops grow well in the fertile Po Basin. Beans, radicchio, asparagus, pumpkins, squash, corn, celery, artichokes and cherries. All lend themselves perfectly to the region’s cooking. Excellent honey is produced here. Wine culture is strong in the region, with many types of whites and reds being produced here. Wine and grappa making are favorite hobbies because of the excellent quality of the region’s grapes. There are a great variety of excellent local wines, such as Refosco ai Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Lambrusco and Raboso. White wines include Malvasia, Sauvignon, Riesling and Trebbiano.
Rice production has been honed to a fine art in the region, with countless creamy risotto recipes giving testament to the fact that rice is important. Cattle farming and the dairy industry are highly prized in this area (butter is often used instead of olive oil in cooking) and cheeses find their way into many dishes.
The typical cuisine of the region is based on local products that, of course, would include rice. Along the coastline, fish and shellfish are favorite additions and typical foods include platters of steamed shellfish, pasta with cannucce (mantis shrimp) and gnocchi with baby mullet and fried local fish. Risotto (cooked with eel, mullet and bass), rice in a fish broth, guinea fowl “in tecia” (cooked in an earthenware pot) or the fòlaga (bald coot stewed with beans) are all popular dishes.
A well-known appetizer is “sarde in saor” (sardines in sweet and sour sauce). Another great food tradition in the region is cicchetti, small snacks or side dishes that are usually eaten with a small glass of wine at the popular wine bars. These snacks are often tiny sandwiches, plates of olives or other vegetables, halved hard-boiled eggs, small servings of a combination of one or more of seafood, meat and vegetable ingredients laid on top of a slice of bread or polenta and very small servings of typical full-course plates. Like Spanish tapas, one can also make a meal of cicchetti by ordering multiple plates.
Once you go inland, away from the sea, the food of the hill and mountain towns becomes more hearty, with polenta, gnocchi, horsemeat and wildfowl, particularly duck, are the featured ingredients for main dishes. Bigoli are a rough, thick homemade spaghetti, usually made from wheat flour, that are laboriously extruded through a special tool used only for that purpose. Radicchio is popular with varieties all named after cities they are grown in or near: Treviso, Verona, etc.
Sweet and Sour Sardines (Sarde in Saor)
Ingredients
- 12 fresh sardines, cleaned
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 125 ml (1/2 cup) dry white wine
- 125 ml (1/2 cup) white wine vinegar
- 1 pinch of ground cinnamon
- 50 g (1/3 cup) raisins
- 2 thyme sprigs
- Toasted pine nuts and lemon wedges, to serve
Directions
Brush sardines with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Heat a large grill pan or frying pan over medium heat and cook the sardines, turning once, for 8 minutes or until just cooked. Set aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a clean frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes or until softened. Add wine and vinegar and simmer for 2 minutes or until slightly reduced, then add cinnamon, raisins and thyme. Simmer for a further 2 minutes, then remove from the heat. Pour onion mixture over the sardines, then cool completely. Drizzle with remaining oil and scatter the pine nuts on top. Serve with lemon.
Crostini with Radicchio
20 crostini
Ingredients
- 7-8 oz (200 g) radicchio leaves
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 2/3 fluid oz (50 ml) red wine
- Salt
- Pepper
- Parsley, finely chopped
- 1 ½ oz Grated Parmesan cheese, grated
- 20 baguette slices
Directions
Cut the radicchio into thin strips. Sauté the onion and the radicchio in hot oil and deglaze the pan with the red wine.
Add salt and pepper and stir, making sure that the liquid doesn’t boil away completely. Mix the parsley into the dish and spread the mixture on the baguette slices.
Bake the baguettes in a preheated oven at 425 degrees F (220°C) for about 6 minutes, sprinkle them with cheese and serve.
Supa da ajo (Garlic soup)
Ingredients for 4 people:
- 4 thin slices of stale bread, cut into small cubes
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups of hot chicken stock
- 2 eggs
- Salt
- Chopped parsley, for garnish
Directions
Crush the garlic cloves.
Pour the oil into a large saucepan.
Add the garlic and cook for 5 minutes on very low heat.
Remove the garlic.
Add the bread cubes. Stir.
Pour in the hot chicken stock.
Season with salt.
Let it simmer for 30 minutes.
Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk them.
Pour them slowly into the hot soup.
Cook for 3 minutes stirring continuously.
Serve garnished with parsley.
Italian Pumpkin Gnocchi
Ingredients
For the gnocchi:
- 1 ½ lbs (700 g) pumpkin
- 8 tablespoons breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- 3 ½ oz (100 g) flour, plus extra for the forming the gnocchi
- 1 ¾ oz (50 g) grated Grana Padano cheese
- Salt & pepper
For the sauce:
- 3 oz (80 g) butter
- Sage leaves
- 1 ¾ oz (50 g) grated Grana Padano cheese
Directions
To cook the pumpkin.
There are two ways:
- Cut the pumpkin into pieces, leaving the skin on, and put it in the oven (350ºF/180°C) for 30 minutes. Then peel it and mash the pulp.
- Peel the skin, cut the pumpkin into pieces and put it in the microwave with a couple of tablespoons of water and microwave on high for 15 minutes.Cool to room temperature.
Mix the pumpkin with breadcrumbs, egg and salt. Add the flour gradually until a soft dough forms.
Flour the counter or a pastry board and form the dough into 1 inch thick long ropes. Cut each rope into 1 inch pieces and gently press each with the prongs of a fork on two sides.
Put the prepared gnocchi on a floured cutting board or baking sheet. When all the gnocchi are formed, you can cook them.
Cut the butter and sage into small pieces and place them on a baking sheet. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F., then turn it off. Place the baking sheet with the butter in the oven.
Boil a large pot of salted water and add the gnocchi, a dozen at a time. As soon as they rise to the surface, scoop them out with a skimmer and place them on the baking sheet in the oven.
As the gnocchi are cooked add them to the baking sheet.
When all the gnocchi are cooked, place them in a serving bowl with a generous amount of grated Grana Padano cheese.
