Mortadella Bologna is a close relative to what many American’s think of as Bologna. An Oscar Mayer commercial from the 1970s made Bologna famous but that product, despite this adorable commercial, has little to do with Mortadella from Italy.
Mortadella is made from a mix of finely ground pork, pork fat, salt and pepper. It is somewhat spicy and very compact. It is delicate and light and is almost sweet. The product has a long history and has been called Mortadella Bologna since 1661 the year in which Cardinal Farnese set out the standard rules of making the product. The word Mortadella is instead from the Roman era and comes from the word for a kitchen utensil called a mortarium in latin or mortaio which was used to press pork meat.
The process to make Mortadella starts with a mixture of the above mentioned ingredients. This blend is then put into a skin and is cooked in the oven with dry heat. After cooking, the product is left to cool.
Mortadella can be eaten at anytime. Here is a great recipe which uses Mortadella on Crostini.
Ingredients:
300 grams of Mortadella
Panna da Cucina (cooking cream)
40 grams of Ricotta
30 grams of grated Parmigiano
1 tbs of Brandy
4 slices of thick bread
Put the Mortadella in the blender and whip until you get a fine mixture, adding the brandy, the ricotta cheese and blend a tad more. Whip the cream (panna) and blend it in with the mixture together with some parmigiano cheese. Put this mousse in the refrigerator and let it rest. When you are ready, spread it on slices of toasted bread.
This dish can be paired with a light and fruity red wine such as a Dolcetto d’Alba or a young Barbera d’Asti. Check out what is happening with the Barbera grape at this website Barbera2010.
Filed under: Cooking, Emilia Romagna
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