Pasta with Mortadella, Pistachios and Parmigiano cream.
If you are a mortadella fan, you’ll fall in love with this authentic Italian recipe for pasta with mortadella and pistachios. It’s pretty fast and easy to make yet special enough to serve to guests.
Pasta con mortadella e pistacchi.
I have to confess that, until now, I haven’t been a big fan of mortadella, unlike many others I know including my hubby. What I mean is having mortadella in sandwiches or as part of a cold cuts platter just didn’t do it for me. However, after making this pasta with mortadella and pistachios, I’m crazy about cooked mortadella!
What exactly is mortadella ?
In short, mortadella or Mortadella Bologna IGP is a cured cooked pork meat sausage or luncheon meat that Italians have been enjoying for about 500 years or more!! The mortadella eaten in Italy today originated in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, hence the name. It’s made with finely minced high quality pork mixed with cubes of cooked pork fat. This mixture is filled into a giant casing and slow-cooked for about 24 hours.
Traditionally mortadella also has black pepper corns, olives or myrtle berries in it. Some versions have pistachios. This is probably why pasta with mortadella and pistachios is a popular combination. The two really are delicious together as you will discover if you try this recipe.
A little mortadella history.
Apparently the ancient Romans also enjoyed a version of mortadella. The first evidence of what is believed to have been a producer of mortadella is on display in the Archaeological Museum of Bologna. This is a stone slab from the Imperial Roman era. On it, there are seven pigs on one side and a mortar with pestle on the other.
The Romans used mortars to pound and mix pork with salt and spices. So, many food historians believe that the name of this famous cured meat specialty comes from the Latin ‘mortarium’ or better from ‘murtatum’. The latter actually means 'meat minced in a mortar'.
There is also a school of thought that the name mortadella comes from the Latin word ‘myrtatum’, meaning myrtle. Myrtle berries were one of the ingredients of a sausage the Romans called ‘farcimen myrtatum’. This popular delicacy was mentioned in writings by both Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) and Varro (116 - 27 BC). It could well have been the original mortadella!
Italians actually made mortadella using a mortar until the 19th century. Then machinery made it easier and cheaper to make. Until that time, this much loved sausage was considered a delicacy and mostly eaten by the nobility. Later it became a popular food with all types of people and the mortadella sandwich was born!
Mortadella around the world.
Here in Italy, there are different versions of mortadella. Of course, the most famous mortadella Bologna IGP is made in Bologna. However, they also make it in Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto, Tuscany, Marche, and even Lazio and Trentino. Then there’s a mortadella from Prato in which they include pounded garlic and an Italian liqueur called alchermes (actually made with the die produced by a scale insect called Kermes). In addition, there’s a mortadella from Amatrice which is lightly smoked and a horsemeat version from Lazio!
You can also find types of this cold cut in Central, Southern and Eastern Europe as well as in Spain and Portugal and most of South America. The American version of mortadella is called Bologna or baloney. However, it’s not exactly the same as the Italian one.
American bologna or baloney doesn’t have the pieces of cooked fat and can be a mixture of pork, turkey, chicken and beef. Italian mortadella is only made with 100% high quality pork. In fact, it has been that way since 1661 when a certain Cardinal Girolamo Farnese forbade the use of any meat except for pork for its production.
Making pasta with mortadella and pistachio.
Like in other countries, Italians eat mortadella in all kinds of sandwiches or panini, as well as on crostini and friselle. They also make it into a mousse with ricotta and add it to pizza. However, the most popular way to use cooked mortadella is in a pasta dish like this pasta with mortadella and pistachio recipe.
This mortadella pasta recipe is pretty easy to make. The main condiment ingredients are small cubes of mortadella with pistachio granules and shallots or other small onions. In addition, this recipe includes a divine Parmigiano-Reggiano cream which adds some creamy cheesy deliciousness to the whole dish.
The pistachios.
I used Sicilian pistachios from Bronte. These are raw kernels which haven’t been toasted or salted. They are the best pistachios in Italy and some consider the best pistachios in the world. You can read more about them in this recipe for Sicilian ricotta and pistachio pasta (link below). Of course, you can also use other pistachios but the best would be raw kernels.
The pasta.
You can make this pasta with mortadella and pistachios with different types of pasta. I used small smooth pasta tubes from Naples called canneroni lisci made by one of my favourite pasta companies Di Martino. This is one of the Italian pasta makers from Gragnano who make Pasta di Gragnano IGP.
Gragnano is a town near Naples that’s famous for dried pasta. In fact, it’s been a centre for pasta making for more than 500 years. I visited Gragnano last year at the invitation of a subsidiary company of Di Martino called Pastificio dei Campi. If you want to learn more about Gragnano and the pasta they make there, you can check out the post about my visit.
Needless to say, you can use other types of pasta for this mortadella and pistachio pasta recipe. I would suggest small tubes such as penne or even farfalle (bow-tie pasta). Spaghetti is also delicious in this dish.
Let me know what you think.
Whichever pasta type you use for this recipe, I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I do. It’s easy to make but quite unique and definitely a divine dish to serve to guests or on special occasions.
If you make this pasta with mortadella recipe, I’d love to hear how it turns out and if you liked it. Please leave a comment here on the blog or on The Pasta Project Facebook page.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Buon appetito!
Other pasta recipes with pistachios.
- Sicilian pasta with ricotta and pistachios
- Paccheri with porcini, speck and pistachios
- Pasta with pistachio pesto
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Pasta with mortadella and pistachios and a Parmigiano-Reggiano cream
Ingredients
- 400 g small pasta tubes (14oz) I used canneroni from Di Martino
- 200 g mortadella Bologna (7oz) cut into cubes
- 2 shallots
- 100 g pistachio kernels (3.5oz) raw
- 6 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil.
- 150 g Parmigiano Reggiano (10.5oz) grated
- 200 ml heavy cream (7floz) You can also use milk and thicken it with sifted cornstarch
- 50 g butter (2oz)
- salt for pasta and to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
Prepare ingredients
- Cut the mortadella into small cubes, peel and slice the shallots.
- Blanch the pistachio kernels in boiling water for a few seconds, drain and peel them (rubbing them with a cloth will remove most of the peel) Keep a few kernels aside for decoration and put the rest in a blender with 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Pulse until you have a rough pesto.
Make the parmigiano cream
- Put the milk or heavy cream in a saucepan with a pinch of salt and the butter. Let the butter melt and bring the sauce to a boil, stir continuously. If using milk add a tablespoon of sifted corn starch and stir until it has dissolved. Add ⅔ of the grated Parmigiano cheese and continue stirring until the cheese has melted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside covered.
Cook the sauce
- Cook the sliced shallots in a large non-stick pan or skillet for a few minutes with some extra virgin olive oil, then add the mortadella cubes and cook for about another 5 minutes. Add the pistachio pesto and mix well.
Finish the dish
- Put a saucepan of water on to cook for the pasta. Once the pasta water has started to boil add salt and bring to the boil again. Cook the pasta al dente according to the instructions on the packet. Then save a cupful of pasta cooking water and drain the pasta. Add it to the pan with the shallots, mortadella and pistachio. Add a little pasta cooking water and mix well. Add some grated parmigiano and mix again.
- Serve immediately sprinkled with some pistachio kernels and the Parmigiano cream spooned over the top.
Gail Montero says
Love that this dish comes together so quickly! Love that it has my favorite pistachios, too - what's not to love?
Julie Wunder says
What a great combo of flavors for a pasta dish. I loved it and my family did too. Will be making again for pasta night.
Sarah James says
Your pasta with mortadella and pistachios looks delicious. I love the sound of the parmigiano cream to top off the dish, thanks for sharing.
Stine Mari says
I do understand why you wouldn't like mortadella cold. However, in this pasta dish it looks INCREDIBLE!
Kechi says
Oh, I learned something new today! Thanks for explaining that Mortadella is an equivalent of Bologna, excellent!
This would be such a perfect lunch or dinner - YUM!
Fred N says
I love reading your blog posts because I know I'm going to get a culinary history lesson and I love those. The mortadella with pistachio is very creative for me and sounds so delicious. Thanks for sharing!
Deborah says
Wow, how interesting to learn about mortadella. Here in the US we have what you mentioned as bologna. My dad ate a bologna sandwich nearly every day when I was growing up. I ate them, too. But it has been a very long time since I bought a package of it. LOL. If it was truly made of 100% pork, I'm sure that would be different. Again, thanks for sharing!
Leslie says
Your Parmigiano cream looks to have the best flavors! This pasta recipe looks divine! YUM!
Jere Cassidy says
I always like reading the Italian history of food. You just need to do a Food History book with all of your knowledge. I have only had mortadella cold on charcuterie trays and have never seen it used in a hot dish. I want to try this pasta dish, the sauce with the pistachios sounds amazing.
marydee says
I love mortadella and look forward to cooking this recipe. However I'm confused re serving size. Seems like a lot of sodium and calories for 1 dish. Maybe the the nutrition list is incorrect?--1272 cal. serves 4 or should the numbers be divided by 4 for each individual serving?
Jacqui says
Hi Marydee, thanks for your comment. I have to say I agree with you that this dish seems to have a lot of calories. However, I used the same calorie calculator I use for all my recipes. I'm planning to try it with another and will adjust the info if it turns out to be different.
Jacqui says
Hi Marydee, I have rechecked the calories for this dish and it appears it's pretty calorific! The main culprits are the raw pistachio kernels, the parmigiano and the olive oil! Mortadella is actually quite low in calories. You could reduce the calories by using milk instead of heavy cream and instead of 100g of pasta per person make 80g.
Gunjan says
Anything pasta is our favorite. This recipe worked so well for us. We loved it and is there in my future meal plans for my family.
Natalie says
What a lovely weekday dinner option. I bet my family will love this. I love the added pistachios and of course cheeses you used here. So delicious! Thanks for the recipe and idea.
Daniela says
Yum I'd have this pasta dish tonight! Love the creamy richness with mortadella + pistachio pasta combo!
Candice says
I never thought to put pistachio and mortadella in pasta and it was amazing! Such a great combination, and so, so good. Thanks for the great recipe!
Jessica says
Typically, I cook a nice pasta dinner on Sunday night for the family. I have all the ingredients, some left-over from making chicken alfredo last weekend. I'm going to make this and serve it with a crunchy loaf of bread, butter, and red wine.
HEATHER PERINE says
I've never tried mortadella myself. But paired with pasta and (my fave!) pistachios this looks divine. Can't wait to hit up the deli and get some to make this dinner this week!
Sam says
Wow this pasta look amazing and so flavourful. Love the ingredients you have put together, so delicious! Excited to try it.
Tracy says
I'm so embarassed to say that I spent a day in Bologna but I didn't havae mortadella! Talk about a missed opportunity! Thank goodness for this recipe, talk about bringing me back to Italy!
Paige says
Wow, this recipe looks so interesting to me! I would never think to put these flavors together, but they look totally delicious!
Amy Liu Dong says
I may say that you will never go wrong with "Pasta", it's an all time favorite. Plus you added pistachios makes this recipe more pleasing and enticing. Definitely a two thumbs up and keep on making us hungry. 🙂