Typical dishes of Brescia

Casoncelli, skewers, manzo all’olio, and many other delicacies: come with us to discover the best-known Brescian specialites, for a full menu of the best secrets of authentic home cooking!

Typical Brescia dishes

1. Casoncelli alla bresciana

A Brescian variant of the filled ravioli found in almost all of northern Italy, casoncelli alla bresciana are among the most popular local specialties.

With a rich, enveloping flavor of meat or vegetables, served with melted butter and sage, “casonsèi” (as they are called in dialect) follow a tradition that goes back more than six centuries: the earliest documents date back as far as the 15th century. Casoncelli are still prepared in Brescian households as a traditional dish filled with memory: all it takes is a little expertise and quality ingredients.

The real Brescian casoncello

The pasta of typical casoncello bresciano is rolled out very thinly, which serves to bring out the flavor of the filling. In the simplest recipe, the filling consists of just a few ingredients, such as dry breadcrumbs, butter and Grana Padano. However, there are different versions, with every family swearing that their recipe is the original!

The most famous casoncelli include those from Longhena and from Barbariga, with a rich filling consisting of grated Grana Padan, breadcrumbs, cooked ham, herbs, meat stock and nutmeg. Different again are the casoncelli from Valle Camonica, which include meat or vegetables.

And to finish? The simple recipe is still the winning one today: topped with melted butter, sage and lots of grated Grana Padano.

Casoncelli and wine: the ideal pairing

A delicious dish of casoncelli bresciani pairs perfectly with the fine local wines , first and foremost Franciacorta Brut or Extra Brut DOCG, whose elegant bouquet and and good intensity lend themselves well to accompany this dish. Alternatively, we recommend pairing it with red wines such as Cellatica DOC and Botticino DOC. We’ll leave it up to you to find your perfect accompaniment!

Recipe for casoncelli bresciani

• Download the recipe for casoncello alla bresciana;
• Watch the video recipe for casoncello alla bresciana by chef Marco Martinelli from Cast Alimenti:

2. Bigoi col Pestöm

Bigoi col Pestöm is a particularly tasty pasta dish, prepared with salami meat.

Large spaghetti-like noodles similar to vermicelli made with whole-wheat flours, eggs, and water, depending on location bigoi are made either with whole eggs or just egg whites and water. Originating in the Veneto region, they have also spread successfully in eastern Lombardy, and the characteristic roughness of the extruded dough best holds onto the sauce, making it very tasty.

In contrast, Pestöm is coarsely chopped fresh salami meat; in the province of Brescia it is used as a topping for pasta, ravioli, and casoncelli, as an alternative to butter.

Recipe for Bigoi col Pestöm (for 8 people)

Ingredients for the extruded pasta:

• 300 g white flour “00”
• 100 g white whole wheat flour
• 160 g whole eggs
• 5 g salt

Preparation: dissolve the salt in the beaten eggs. Mix the two flours in the kneading machine, then add the eggs slowly with the machine in motion. Knead the ingredients for 6 to 8 minutes. Pass the dough through the die and use the bronze die to form the bigoli. Dust them with whole wheat flour to prevent them from sticking to each other.

For the pestöm:

• 300 g pork meat (leg, shoulder or upper loin)
• 50 g pork cheek or belly
• 50 g red wine, 10 g grappa
• 1 clove of garlic
• 4 g salt
• 2 g chopped rosemary
• black pepper

Preparation: Dice the guanciale and the leaner part of the meat finely, passing the rest through a meat grinder. In a bowl, mix the wine, grappa and salt and season by crushing the garlic into the liquids. Pour the seasoning over the meat, add the finely chopped rosemary and knead with your hands for a few minutes. Store in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before using.

Ingredients for the sauce:

• 400 g fresh salami meat
• 200 g tomato puree
• 40 g “Laghi Lombardi” DOP extra virgin olive oil
• 80 g of Grana Padano DOP
• 2 bay leaves
• salt
• black pepper

Preparation: In a nonstick frying pan, crumble the salami meat and brown it over high heat for a few minutes. Add the tomato puree and the two bay leaves and cook for 6 to 8 minutes on a gentle heat. Adjust the flavor.

Finishing and presentation: Cook the bigoli in salted water. Drain and toss them in a pan with the sauce and top with Grana Padano PDO.

• Download the Recipe for Bigoi with Pestöm;
• Watch thevideo recipe of Bigoi col Pestöm by chef Marco Martinelli from Cast Alimenti:

Second courses typical of Brescia

1. Brescian rabbit

Among the most popular local dishes, the preparation of coniglio alla bresciana requires some familiarity so that the meat does not turn out too dry. Butter, lard and Lugana wine are recommended to make the rabbit meat tender and particularly tasty. This is accompanied by a delicious polenta with potatoes and Lombard green peppers.

Recipe for Coniglio alla Bresciana (for 8 people)

Ingredients:

• 1 x 1.5 kg organic rabbit matured 3/4 days
• 150 g golden onions
• 80 g veined lard
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 100 g butter
• 200 ml aromatic white wine
• fresh sage and rosemary
• lemon zest
• salt
• white pepper

Preparation: Clean the rabbit of any remaining fluff and fat buildup. Cut it into small pieces and save the liver. Slice the onion and lard 0.5 cm thick. In a baking tray, melt the butter, add the lightly crushed garlic cloves, onion, lard. Add the rabbit pieces and season together, season with salt and pepper. Wet with white wine and bake at 175°C for about 55 minutes. Halfway through cooking, turn the rabbit pieces over and add the chopped liver and seasoning. Three-quarters of the way through cooking, turn the pieces again without breaking them.

Finish and presentation: Serve the rabbit with polenta, season with the reduced cooking juices and accompany with Lombard-style peppers.

NB: To preserve the flavors of the preparation, take care not to burn the cooking juices by making sure there is always enough liquid in the bottom of the tray. First, this will be the wine, then you can add a little vegetable stock. This ensures a tasty accompanying sauce and reduces the amount of fat used.

Click here for the video recipe for Coniglio alla bresciana by chef Marco Martinelli from Cast Alimenti.

2. Beef in oil

Among the best-loved recipes from the Brescia area, the beef in oil is a meat main course typical of the Rovato area. A savory and tasty dish that warms you up winter days, combining the most authentic flavors of local traditions in a single dish.

Mentioned in documents dating back to the 16th century and long valued and revisited throughout the province, manzo all’olio (beef with oil) is one of the many variations of the classic braised beef cooked with vegetables and broth. Its distinguishing feature is the use of anchovies, which are not a “native” ingredient and historically justified by the Venetian domination in the Brescian area for almost four hundred years, which resulted in sea-based ingredients becoming part of the local cooking.

Recipe for Manzo all’olio (for 8 people)

Ingredients:

• 2 liters of veal stock
• 1 kg of beef shoulder
• 160 g onions
• 100 ml white wine
• 100 g celery
• 80 g Sebino DOP extra virgin olive oil
• 80 g carrots
• 20 g salted capers
• 20 g salted anchovy fillets
• 15 g parsley
• 6 g garlic

For the roast potatoes:

• 320 g mountain potatoes
• 40 g extra virgin olive oil
• Sebino DOP e.v. olive oil
• whole grain salt

Preparation: In a saucepan, braise the meat with a tablespoon of oil. Brown the meat on all sides and add the garlic, onion, celery, carrots, desalted capers, and desalted and deboned anchovies. Continue browning for 6 to 7 minutes over a moderate heat. Pour over the white wine and add the hot broth. Cook over moderate heat for about 2 1/2 hours or until the meat is tender. Remove the meat from the cooking juices and slice it. Blend the cooking juices in the blender adding the parsley and the remaining EVO oil. The cooked vegetables will act as a binder for the sauce. Adjust the flavor and serve with baked potatoes or polenta.

For the roasted potatoes: peel and dice the potatoes. Lay them in a baking tray, baste with oil and bake at 175°C for 30 minutes. Season with salt only before serving.

Finish and presentation: Slice the beef and heat it in a pan with the sauce. Serve the beef with the potatoes topped with chopped parsley and a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.

• Download the beef in oil recipe;
• Watch the video recipe of all’olio by chef Marco Martinelli from Cast Alimenti:

3. Skewers with polenta

Considered by many to be the symbol of the area, the Spiedo bresciano has stimulated the production of as much literature as the variations in recipe.

Indeed, despite all sharing a common base – small fowl and pork rolls, called mumbulì or lumbulì, on skewers – the composition differs with the addition of chicken, rabbit, pork ribs, potatoes or, in some areas of Lake Garda, eel. The perfect accompaniment is polenta, possibly made using a local corn such as Quarantino corn from the moraine hills of Garda, soft enough to soak up the fragrant gravy derived from the juices of the meat and the generous amount of butter or/and pancetta.

In March 2011, the recognition Denominazione Comunale dello Spiedo bresciano , was awarded to the typical recipe of the towns of Serle and Gussago. This recipe is inspired by the most traditional way of making Brescian skewers in terms of types of meat, size, the use of fowl and type of wood used for charcoal.

Preparation and ingredients

The original recipe for the Spiedo Bresciano is totally meat-based, except for a few exceptions such as potatoes and sage leaves that are placed between the pieces of meat to give it a bit of extra flavor.

The types of meat most commonly used are:

• Rolled pork loin or coppa, for the so-called “mombói,” and pork ribs;
• Thighs, breast or wings of chicken (or even duck and other poultry);
• Rabbit (any part except the head and innards);
• Game birds (the use of which is prohibited in all public eateries).

Other ingredients included in the original skewer recipe are butter with at least 80 percent fat and fine salt of non-marine origin.

Skewering

Skewering begins when pieces of different meats (“prese”) are threaded onto long skewers, alternating them and interspersing them with a few sage leaves and sometimes a few potatoes cut into slices about 1cm high. Each individual “presa” should weigh about 70-80 grams, so it is important that the meat is cut precisely.

Each “sword” should be filled with the pieces of different meats arranged in the same order, taking care to place the more compact pieces of meat next to pieces of fatty meat; the ideal sequence provided by the recipe for the Spiedo Brescian is: chop, chicken (or equivalent), loin, rabbit, bird.

The potatoes are placed at the beginning and end of each “bracol,” and in any case in contact with the metal pieces of the structure in order to prevent the meat from touching them.

After filling each skewer evenly and of as similar weight as possible, they are mounted on a structure that positions them radially around a central pin that rotates constantly during cooking. This is now done using electric motors, but used to be done exclusively by hand.

The resulting skewer can be mounted inside an iron/steel rotisserie or placed outdoors near a fireplace or barbecue where it is left to rest overnight. In this way, the blood remaining inside the resting meat can drip to the outside making it drier and more suitable for cooking. (For more details see ilverospiedo.it).

Recipe for Spit with Polenta

Watch the video recipe for spit with polenta by chef Marco Martinelli from Cast Alimenti:

4. Corn and mountain potato polenta: recipe (for 8 people)

Ingredients:

• 1 l water
• 250 g whole-wheat corn flour Quarantino
• 150 g mountain potatoes
• 10 g extra virgin olive oil Laghi Lombardi DOP
• 8 g whole grain salt

Preparation: Wash, peel and dice the potatoes (1 cm). In a copper pot, bring water to a boil. Add salt and sieve in the flour, whisking as you go. Add the potatoes. Once it returns to the boil, lower the heat and cook over moderate heat for about 60 minutes, stirring continuously.

Finish and presentation: Once cooked, add the oil and stir before serving.

NB: Cooking in a copper pot makes the aromas released by the Qarantino corn especially pleasant. The use of vegetables, in this case mountain potatoes, is an ancient peasant tradition. In mid-mountain areas, polenta was also enriched with dairy products. Adding the oil at the end of cooking leaves it unaltered, allowing you to appreciate the high quality of Lombard Lakes PDO extra virgin olive oil.

5. Lombard peppers: the recipe

Ingredients:

• 80 g pickled Lombard peppers
• 40 g mountain cheese that is not too aged, or Grana Padano DOP
• 10 g extra virgin olive oil “Laghi Lombardi” DOP

Preparation: Drain the peppers from the vinegar and cut them into small pieces. Grate the cheese. Combine the two ingredients and season with EVO oil.

Sweets and other typical delicacies from Brescia

1. Castagnaccio or Patuna

Castagnaccio or Patuna is a dessert popular in rural areas of the Brescia area.

A poor and very tasty traditional dish, it is prepared with chestnut flour and enriched with raisins, pine nuts and rosemary. Typical of the autumn season, it is an excellent source of energy and beneficial properties.

Recipe for Castagnaccio or Torta Patuna

Ingredients:

• 350 g chestnut flour
• 250 g water
• 250 g milk
• 6 tablespoons oil
• 10 g salt
• 30 g sugar
• 50 g sultanas (soaked)
• 30 g pine nuts

Preparation: place the flour in a bowl with salt and sugar. Add water a little at a time, stirring the mixture, taking care to avoid lumps.
Having obtained a smooth paste, add the oil and soaked sultanas, then pour the mixture into a shallow, wide cake pan and sprinkle the surface with the pine nuts and a few rosemary leaves. Drizzle with the remaining oil. Bake it at 200 °C for about 40 minutes, until a nice golden, cracked crust forms. Leave to cool before serving.

2. Persicata

Persicata is a solid jam typical of Brescian pastry recipes. The name comes from the word “persech,” meaning peach in the local dialect.

Concerning the origins of the recipe, legend has it that a mother from Collebeato wanted to have the village’s peaches delivered to her son, who was fighting in the war. Unable to deliver fresh fruit, she decided to turn them into jam and then into jellies, so as to preserve their sweetness. Hence the creation of Persicata, delicious peach jelly bars.

Persicata recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 kg white peaches
• 950 g sugar
• 15 g pectin
• 50 g sugar
• 100 g water
• 4 g citric acid solution

Preparation: In a saucepan, bring water to a boil and blanch the stoned ripe peaches. Mix with sugar in a bowl and place the mixture in the refrigerator. After three hours, stir and cook in a nonstick pan until it comes to the boil for the first time. Mix the second part of the sugar with the dry pectin and pour in the water, then blend with a hand blender.

Toward the end of cooking, add the pectin solution to the peach mixture and complete cooking at 68 °C using a Bx probe, then incorporate the citric acid solution. Arrange the jam in the steel pans. Allow to rest for 12 hours in a moisture-free stove at 30 °C, then cut into bars use a jelly cutter and roll them in fairly large-grain caster sugar. Package according to personal taste.

Enjoy the very best of Brescian specialties: discover the PDO and PAT products of Brescia and the surrounding province!