The puff pastry of my memories: an old tradition

A tradition that comes from afar, in Bologna everyone has their own puff pastry! But what is puff pastry?
No, it's not a type of pasta like tagliatelle.

I was lucky in life, born in Bologna, mom, grandmother, aunts, cousins, they raised me well with their cooking recipes and started me to become a gourmet; then I was supported over time by valuable and precious friends.

Unfortunately, my friends were not always available to satisfy my culinary desires and needs. For these cases, I got myself a safe side, Giuliana, the Bolognese puff pastry who has been able to perfectly interpret my tastes developed since childhood.
Now the management of the Buon Gusto Fresh Pasta store has passed to his son Michele who, together with Doina, his delicious Moldovan wife, perfectly integrated into Bolognese cuisine, delight me with their traditional preparations and enhanced by their sensitivity.

Do you understand what puffs are?
It is those people who prepare the pastry that for us in Bologna is the basis with which to prepare the typical preparations of the area. The box that, depending on the product you want to prepare, will be filled with cheeses, cold cuts, bread, eggs and/or vegetables.

Typical Emilian preparations

The classic Tortellini minutes with perfect balance due to the excellent quality of the filling ingredients: well-seasoned and tasty ham from the Modena DOP, classic Bologna mortadella, pork loin, Parmigiano Reggiano for at least 24 months, pepper and nutmeg, egg yolks that compact the dough then enclosed in a square of thin egg pastry to form the exciting Navel of Venus.

The wonderful Lasagne with five layers of green puff pastry with egg spinach, which are alternated with consistent amounts of excellent Bolognese ragù, a little bechamel sauce, a good Parmigiano Reggiano aged at least 24 months.

The very tasty Passatelli that are obtained with a mixture of grated stale bread, Parmigiano Reggiano, eggs and a pinch of nutmeg or a grated lemon peel as is used in Romagna. The dough is pressed with a potato masher to obtain cords of about 5 mm in diameter then consumed in broth or dry with various soil or sea condiments.

The Balanzoni Verdi, large egg puff pastry tortelli filled with classic minced mortadella, ricotta and Parmigiano Reggiano that take their name from the Petronian carnival mask Doctor Balanzone, a pot-bellied and cultured Bolognese doctor.

It is a list that can go on for a long time...
My current friends, browns/brownies, continue to treat me well, but I also delight in the kitchen and I know that to achieve great results it is necessary to identify excellent raw materials and learn to assemble them with the right balance, in doing so they benefit our senses: sight, smell, touch, taste and, consequently, our psychophysical well-being.
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