Gramigna pasta is short, curly, and most often paired with a hearty pork-sausage (salsiccia) sauce. Its name loosely translates to “little weeds,” and it does indeed appear as a delightful tangle on your plate.
Gramigna is one of Bologna’s many famed egg pastas (we only wish we had the resources to document them all!), but we love it with salsiccia as an alternative to tomato-based pasta dishes here. Like much of Emilian cuisine, the secret to its deliciousness is its simplicity.
Where: We had our gramigna, which was made with both sausage and saffron, at Il Cantinone (Via del Pratello 56/a), a rustic osteria on a lively street in Bologna with sidewalk seating.
Eds’ note: Unfortunately Il Cantinone has permanently closed since our last visit. Please see below for alternatives.
Order: The savory gramigna con salsiccia e zafferano; you’ll also want to try the silky green-nettle tagliatelle con ragú alla Bolognese here, if it is available.
Alternatively: This dish is quite common on primi piatti menus around Bologna, including those at Ristorante da Nello al Montegrappa (Via Montegrappa 2, map), where mushrooms join the party, and Trattoria del Rosso (Via Augusto Righi 30, map).
Updated: January 6, 2025
