Osteria dal Minestraio - outside Bologna

[albiston]

Osteria del Minestraio made for one of the coziest evenings of my recent trip to Northern Italy. I can only confirm A_Broad considerations on the atmosphere and service. The 10 pasta dishes on the menu where somewhat different as thy change every month, there were a few contact points, like the lasagnette or the passatelli, but they were served with a different sauce. A real nightmare for anyone on the Atkins diet . It might be worth mentioning that "minestra" in Bologna generally indicates the first course of an Italian meal, primi, and hence the name of the Osteria.

Looking at the ten dishes in their complex it is nice to notice how they often seem to bounce between tradition and creativity. The Maccheroni al pettine in mousse di mortadella al profumo di noce moscata, comb maccheroni (aka garganelli) with mortadella mousse and nutmeg aroma, that made up our second "course" for example played with the classic regional flavors of garganelli and mortadella giving them a creative twist through the transformation of mortadella into mousse. There was also room for a little higher-gastronomy quotation and divertissement: the tortelli farciti di fagioli borlotti su emulsione al peperone, borlotti beans tortelli on a red pepper emulsion, served as pasta course are a take on Fulvio Pierangelini's (chef at Gambero Rosso in San Vincenzo, and considered the best chef in Italy by many Italian critics) dessert ravioli di peperoni e fagioli con crema al peperoncino, pepper and beans ravioli with chili pepper sauce. I managed to make it to pasta course number 9, just a step from the goal line. I wanted to keep a little space for the pre-dessert creme brulee pots (among them an intriguing licorice one) and dessert .

I was there with a few friends (among them Pia, Igles Corelli's wife) and we were joined by chef Corelli at about the end of our meal, coming straight from Rome and his duties as a cooking instructor. So after dinner, and with the restaurant for ourselves, we had a chance to chat a bit with Piero Pompili, taking care of the FOH, and Arnaldo Laghi, the chef, who runs a one man show in the kitchen. Both are charming, fun and passionate, it was really nice getting to know them. Even If I had not, I would have really enjoyed dining here all the same: the service and food we recieved was exactly the same as that of every other table. Osteria del Minestraio is the kind of place I would visit often if it were down the road: warm relaxed atmosphere, without being too casual, nice food at very correct prices and a well thought wine choice. One of those places where you can simply lay back and have fun eating.

[Kevin72]

Alberto:

Can you walk me through the garganelli with mortadella mousse? It sounds intriguing but I just can't picture how it would be served. Wouldn't the heat of the pasta cause the mousse to separate?

[albiston]

Alberto: 

Can you walk me through the garganelli with mortadella mousse?  It sounds intriguing but I just can't picture how it would be served.  Wouldn't the heat of the pasta cause the mousse to separate?

←

If I knew the recipe of the dish I could probably answer the question in a better way. All I can say is that I'm not sure if the mousse was actually a classic mousse (egg whites+yolk/fat/flavouring agent) or not. Its look and feel was more that of a slightly foamy puree.

I'll drop Piero a line and see if he can answer to this.

[Kevin72]

Nothing so specific as a recipe, just how did it look? Was it just whipped mousse on top of garganelli, or tossed with it to form a coating? I'm really bad at visualizing things based on verbal descriptions.

[albiston]

Nothing so specific as a recipe, just how did it look? Was it just whipped mousse on top of garganelli, or tossed with it to form a coating?  I'm really bad at visualizing things based on verbal descriptions.

←

It was definitely a somewhat foamy coating. Anyway, I wrote Piero, so hopefully he'll have more details for me by tomorrow (he's already at the Osteria now).

[Kevin72]

Well, hell, get him to post a picture, too, so I can really kick my appetite into overdrive!

[Kevin72]

Maybe if I pretend real, real hard, this lo-fat yogurt will taste like mortadella mousse . . .

[albiston]

Mortadella mousse mystery solved.

The "sauce" used for the dish is by no means a classic mousse, as not too rarely the case in Italy, rather a sort of slightly whipped (my guess) cream based on mortadella with a tiny amount of mascarpone (just enough to stabilize it). Cream and garganelli are the sauteed together shortly and the dish has to be served immediately since the cream texture would otherwise go from velvety to dryish.

It's not on the menu this month, so no picture, but should it get back there there#ll be a special place for it in my imageGullet gallery.

[Kevin72]

Thanks for the clarification, Alberto.

[MMerrill]

While staying in Bologna in mid-October, we drove just south of town one evening to this delightful restaurant. The Osteria is attractively modern and we were greeted warmly by Pietro Pompili who took care of us exceedingly well for the rest of the evening. As has been described on this forum before, the restaurant serves a series of ten first courses, including a soup and a risotto. The servings are small enough to allow you to finish them all, but you can bail out at any time. Each course costs 4 eruos.

Here is the menu for October that we had:

Crema di broccoletti con chips di pane ed olio al rosmarino.

Maccheroncini al torchio all'anatra e scorza d'arancia.

Riso Carnaroli mantecato ai funghi porcini e castagne.

Tagliolino al nero con calamari e bietole.

Cappelletti farciti di zucca, burro aromatico all 'erbette, semi di sesamo

ed infusione alia liquirizia.

Lasagnetta gratinata al radicchio, taleggio e parmigiano.

Gramigna in farina di semola con salsiccia, scaglie di grana e riduzione al balsamico di Modena.

Passatelli asciutti su salsa di spinaci e bruscandoli al prosciutto.

Tortelli verdi farciti di ricotta e pera, semi di papavero e caramello al vino rosso.

Rigatoni all 'uovo alia moda di amatrice fume.

We were also started off with an amuse of wafer-thin toast crisps w/tomato and onion. We ordered one dessert - a delicious vanilla gelato, w/chocolate sauce, artistically arranged on the plate with berries and bits of crispy pastry. We thought it looked like a pheasant! Before that we were presented with a "pre-dessert" of three mini creme brulees - caramel (I think), hazlenut and coffee. Fabulous!

We loved the food, which is seasonal and combines tradition and creativity with flare. I can't really pinpoint one dish that stood out. The evening was just a wonderful dining experience.

You can follow this link to the earlier discussion:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=831291

Edited November 15, 2005 by MMerrill (log)