Every corner of Italy has its own culinary traditions, from carbonara in Rome to tortellini in Bologna. Winter Olympics co-host Cortina d’Ampezzo's signature dish is the colorful, stuffed pasta known as casunziei.
The ravioli-type dish, also known as casunziei all’Ampezzana, consists of homemade half-moon-shaped pasta filled with boiled beets, topped with a sauce of melted butter, Parmesan cheese and poppy seeds.
It’s a simple dish that harks back to the Alpine region's poorer past – long before Cortina transformed into a winter playground for the international jet set. Even in the coldest days of winter, local families had the ingredients in their cupboards. Casunziei (pronounced cah-SOON-zi-eh) can also have other fillings replacing beets.
"It’s a typical local dish. My favorite casunziei are the ones cooked by my grandmother - the spinach ones,” Stefania Constantini, a defending Olympic curling champion in mixed doubles and a Cortina native, told The Associated Press (AP).
Casunziei is linked to Cortina's Ladin culture that stretches back a millennium. And they can still be sampled at many Cortina establishments – both in high-end restaurants and more local, rustic spots.
Gianluca Belli, a chef at the Michelin-starred Ristorante Tivoli, showed how to make casunziei while Luca Noale, manager of the restaurant The Roof, translated and explained the steps.
1. Start by making the pasta one day before serving. Dump flour onto the working surface and form a well in the middle with your fingers. Crack eggs into the center of the well. Use a fork to slowly incorporate the egg into the flour. When it is completely mixed in, start to knead the mixture with your hands until it becomes smooth. Store in the refrigerator overnight.
2. The next day, peel and boil the beets until tender (about two hours), then place in a food processor and puree. Transfer to a bowl and add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Divide the pasta mixture into four pieces and flatten with a rolling pin. Then run it through a pasta maker on the thinnest setting until it becomes almost transparent.
4. Using a water glass for the outline, cut circles of pasta and use a pastry bag or a tablespoon to add the beet puree into the center of each circle. Fold the pasta over the filling to form half-moon shapes and press the edges together with a fork.
5. Bring a pot of salted water to boil and add the filled pasta to the pot. When the pasta rises to the water’s surface (after about one minute), remove and drain.
6. Melt the butter in a pan until it browns.
7. Grate Parmesan onto the plate, add the casunziei on top of the cheese, and top with the browned butter. Add poppy seeds and serve immediately.
Cortina will host women’s Alpine skiing, sliding sports (bobsled, luge and skeleton) and curling during the Games.
Other venues for these Olympics are spread out all over northern Italy: skating sports in Milan; freestyle skiing and snowboarding in Livigno; men’s Alpine skiing in Bormio; Nordic sports in Val di Fiemme and biathlon in Anterselva.
The great distances between clusters mean that cuisine will vary, too, from one area to another.
One of Milan’s most famous dishes is ossobuco (veal shank with bone marrow) served with risotto Milanese (saffron-flavored rice).
Bormio is known for its bresaola (dried, cured beef).
Canederli (bread-and-prosciutto dumplings) are made in Val di Fiemme and Anterselva.
