Treiso in Piedmont in autumn Photo: stock.adobe.com/pixelshop
From our editorial team
When the evenings get shorter in Italy and the smell of rain and wood fires fills the air, the kitchen changes too.
In the cold season, we serve dishes that warm and celebrate autumn: Pasta with truffles, game, pumpkin or fresh spinach - recipes that show how different Italy can taste. The truffle season begins in central Italy. Sliced over buttery tagliatelle, they unfold their full flavour in Umbria or Tuscany - a dish that smells of earth, warmth and luxury.
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Autumn becomes wild
Not far away, in the hills around Siena, hunters braise wild boar ragù, which later meets broad pappardelle. A combination that is as hearty and honest as the landscape itself. In the north, autumn is all about pumpkins.
Photo: stock.adobe.coom/denio109
In Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna, this becomes lasagne di zucca - mild, creamy, with sage and parmesan. It is even more delicate with gnocchi di zucca, small pumpkin dumplings from Veneto, which melt in butter and taste slightly sweet.
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Cabbage in the south
A little further south, in Emilia or Liguria, tender ravioli are filled with ricotta and spinach, served with nut butter and a hint of sage - simple but perfect. In Puglia, on the other hand, it's time for cime di rapa, or stem cabbage, served with anchovies and chilli.
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Photo: stock.adobe.com/framarzo
The small orecchiette soak up the sauce and bring the south to your plate. And then there's the north, when mushroom season begins in the forests around Alba. Tagliolini ai funghi porcini - a flavour of forest, rain and fresh pasta, so simple that you hardly want to change a thing. And of course, the world-famous white truffle from Alba is also available here.
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In October and November, many villages celebrate these dishes with small sagrevillage festivals where people cook, eat and tell stories. Anyone travelling through Italy at this time of year quickly realises that autumn is not an in-between season. It is a menu.
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