The food of Lombardy.
Because much of Lombardy is well-irrigated flat land, this region has a highly productive agricultural industry, producing crops such as rice, corn, wheat, sugar beet, and animal feed. There are also plenty of cattle and dairy farms.
Like the rest of Italy, the most common crops and livestock dictate the cuisine of the region, and indeed the cuisine of Lombardy is very different from that of the southern Italian regions. Rice and polenta are staples here, as are beef and veal.
Lombardy is also home to many famous Italian cheeses such as gorgonzola, robiola, Grana Padano, mascarpone and taleggio. There are also many lesser-known mountain cheeses produced in alpine pastures and valleys in the northern part of the region.
These 12 pasta recipes from Lombardy.
The pasta and gnocchi recipes below are just a taste of the delicious food found in Lombardy. Most of them make use of typical local ingredients, and many are recipes that go back to earlier times, when rural people made dishes from ingredients they either grew themselves, foraged or hunted.
CLICK ON RECIPE NAME TO GO TO RECIPE POST
Homemade pasta recipes from Lombardy.
1) Chestnut flour maltagliati with mushrooms.
This homemade pasta with chestnut flour is locally known as ‘foiade’ and is a type of maltagliati pasta from the valleys of the Bergamo province. Traditionally, foiede contains more than one type of flour. I used a mixture of chestnut flour and semolina flour. I decorated the finished pasta with a sauce of dried porcini, fresh cremini mushrooms and cream. The result? A fabulous chestnut maltagliati recipe that’s easy to make, yet special enough for holiday menus.
2) Robiola filled ravioli.
If you’re a homemade ravioli fan, you’ll love this robiola-stuffed ravioli made with one of the region’s signature cheeses. The ravioli filling is easy to make and really tasty without the need for cooking! The pasta dough has soft and hard wheat flour and eggs. Serve this ravioli with melted butter, grated cheese and chopped chives.
3) Homemade Casoncelli.
Casoncelli pasta, also called casonsei, is a classic filled pasta from eastern Lombardy. There are a number of versions of this delicious traditional dish. This particular recipe is for casoncelli della Valcamonica, a valley in the Italian Alps.
In this recipe, the pasta filling contains cooked vegetables, mortadella, sausage, grated parmigiano, potatoes, breadcrumbs, parsley, leek, salt and pepper. The dough is a mixture of soft and hard wheat flour and eggs. The finished casoncelli are served with melted butter, sage leaves and crispy pancetta!
This amazing stuffed pasta is definitely a labor of love. It’s not a quick dinner. But if you try it, you’ll understand why it’s such an iconic dish.
4) Scarpinocc di Parre.
Known in Lombardy as scarpinocc di Parre, this meatless stuffed pasta is a unique traditional dish from an ancient mountain village called Parre. Scarpinocc is a very rustic pasta created with mostly simple ingredients that were available to farming families of the past. Rich in milk, butter, cheese and eggs, this is a homemade pasta you’ll want to try!
The scarpinocc filling is not cooked. It has breadcrumbs, grated Grana or Parmigiano, butter, eggs, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and milk. The pasta dough contains soft and hard wheat flour, melted butter, milk and eggs. Scarpinocc is usually served with a simple browned butter and sage seasoning.
5) Maltagliati with Mascarpone.
This fabulous creamy mascarpone pasta recipe comes from the town of Lodi in the heart of the Po Valley. Traditionally made with maltagliati pasta, this is one of the easiest pasta recipes to make. You can use homemade or ready-made lasagna sheets to make maltagliati. The no cook sauce is a simple combination of egg yolks, mascarpone, grana and nutmeg. You can of course use other types of pasta instead.
6) Pumpkin tortelli.
These divine tortelli from Mantova are filled with roasted pumpkin, crushed amaretti crackers, egg, cheese and nutmeg. They are traditionally served on Christmas Eve dressed in sage butter, but would make a fabulous addition to any festive menu.
Other pasta recipes from Lombardy.
7) Braised hare ragu with pappardelle.
Based on an old northern Italian dish known as ‘lepre in salmi’ in Italian, this braised hare ragu is one of the tastiest game recipes in Italian cuisine. The hare meat is marinated in red wine, herbs and spices and then braised in wine and stock until tender. In this version, cocoa powder added at the end gives the sauce an incredibly rich deep, slightly chocolaty flavor.
I served my hare ragu with pappardelle. You can use other egg noodles or even dry pasta tubes like rigatoni. Here in Northern Italy, this ragu is also served with polenta.
8) Minestrone Milanese.
This hearty minestrone Milanese is a super nutritious Italian vegetable soup from Milan, the capital of Lombardy. Thicker than most minestrone soups, this soup is full of healthy seasonal vegetables, protein-rich beans and aromatic herbs. Add rice or pasta and serve it Italian style with grated parmigiano and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
9) Pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese.
Baked pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese is a well-known delicious vegetarian buckwheat pasta from the town of Teglio in Valtellina, a very beautiful and fertile valley in the Italian Alps. The combination of buckwheat pasta, savoy cabbage, potatoes, butter and cheese makes this typical hearty and warming mountain food perfect for the cold season! You can serve this dish baked or unbaked.
10) Sausage pasta alla Monzese.
Pasta alla Monzese is a rich pasta recipe based on a traditional risotto recipe from the Brianza area of ​​Lombardy. This creamy sausage and saffron pasta is actually surprisingly simple to make and only has 4 main ingredients. But it’s the combination of these ingredients that makes this one of the most flavorful sausage pasta recipes I know.
Gnocchi recipes from Lombardy.
11) Spinach and bread gnocchi (strangolapreti).
These delicious spinach and bread gnocchi, known as strangolapreti, are traditional in eastern Lombardy and Trentino-Alto Adige. Made with bread, spinach, eggs and cheese or flour, strangola preti is most often eaten with a simple sage and butter sauce dressing or in broth. Super tasty and comforting, these gnocchi are a super zero-waste recipe that uses leftover stale bread and even cooked spinach.
12) Gnocchi with Taleggio.
This creamy gnocchi with taleggio recipe is a fabulously easy dish from Lombardy. All you need are just 5 main ingredients and very little preparation to make this seriously delicious recipe, which combines Italian taleggio cheese with pears and specks and fresh potato gnocchi. You can serve this dish baked or unbaked. Both ways are super tasty!
Other regional pasta recipes collections.
Pasta recipes from Piemonte/Piedmont.
12 pasta recipes from Marche.
Emilia-Romagna pasta recipes.
Pasta recipes from Rome.
Let me know what you think.
Of course, there are many more gnocchi and pasta recipes from Lombardy to discover. I’ve released a few others, but the ones in this collection are my current favorites. Additionally, I have quite a few on my to-make list that I look forward to sharing here in the future.
In the meantime, if you try any of these 12 pasta recipes from Lombardy, I’d love to hear what you think. Please post a comment here on the blog or post a comment on the Pasta Project Facebook page.
Your feedback means a lot to me!
Good appetite!
Pin for later.
Reader Interactions