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Home » Recipes » Seafood & Lake Fish Pasta Recipes

Published: Aug 18, 2017 · Modified: Aug 20, 2017 by Jacqui

Restaurant Dei Cantoni, Longiano, Emilia-Romagna


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Dei Cantoni, Longiano, Emilia-Romagna.

Dei Cantoni, Longiano

On our way back from Abruzzo on 15th August we met up with one of my hubby’s sisters and her husband. They live near Rimini in Emilia-Romagna. They took us to a restaurant in a medieval village in the hills between Rimini and Cesena. If you are ever in that part of Italy, I would suggest visiting the village for its outstanding beauty and the restaurant for its good food.

The medieval village or ‘borgo’ Longiano is located in the hills between Cesena and Rimini, Emilia-Romagna. The village was built in an area which is known to have been inhabited as far back as the Stone Age, although the village itself didn’t start to become an established settlement until 6th and 7th century. In the Middle Ages, it was a thriving community with a castle/fortress known as the ‘Rocca Malatestiana’ which still stands today.

Restaurant Dei Cantoni, Longiano

Much of the village has been restored in keeping with the original medieval style and Longiano has been awarded the Orange Flag by the Italian touring club. This is an eco-tourist award to small towns and villages across Italy with a population of less than 15,000 people that make particular efforts towards welcoming tourism in a carefully maintained environment, and promote local industry and crafts.

Restaurant Dei Cantoni, Longiano

The restaurant we went to is called Dei Cantoni. The ‘cantóun’ was the poor neighbourhood of the medieval village Longiano. This restaurant was opened in 1989 by husband and wife team Teresa and Danilo Bianchi.

Restaurant Dei Cantoni, Longiano
Husband and wife Teresa and Danilo, owners of dei Cantoni

Teresa is the hostess of the house. She welcomes and builds rapport with the clients. Danilo, her husband is the chef. The food is mainly Romagna cuisine with a number of innovative ways of serving local, fresh and seasonal ingredients. The dough for their pasta, which is all homemade, is worked by hand and rolled out using a ‘mattarello’, a rolling pin.  

Restaurant Dei Cantoni antipasto

We started our meal with antipasti, as most meals begin in Italy. We ordered 4 mixed antipasti dishes, leaving the owners to choose what to give us. In Romagna, bruschetta or crostini are a traditional antipasto and piadini are served instead of bread. The piadini at Dei Cantoni are also homemade.

Restaurant Dei Cantoni antipasto

Along with some delicious crostini and the piadini, the antipasti at dei Cantoni also included some prosciutto, mortadella served with burrata and pistachio granuals, fried zucchini flowers, eggplant parmigiana, to name just some! To be honest we were pretty full after eating all this and decided to just have pasta afterwards and no main course.

Restaurant Dei Cantoni antipasto

Of the three pasta dishes we chose, my favourite was the rigatoni di Gragnano with a carbonara of baby calamari, pork cheek and grey mullet bottarga or roe. The combination sounded a little strange but the taste was fantastic, so I asked the chef for the recipe (see on the next page).

Restaurant Dei Cartoni pasta
straw & hay (paglia e fieno) strozzapreti

Seafood carbonara dishes are becoming popular in Italy. Most include the basics of carbonara; pork cheek parmesan and eggs, along with some combination of seafood. I have yet to try cooking this type of ‘carbonara’ but given how good this dish at Dei Cantoni was, I don’t think it will be long before I try it myself.

Dei Cantoni Longiano calamari carbonara
Rigatoni with calamari carbonara and mullet bottarga

The chittarrelli with swordfish fillet, capers from Pantelleria and candied tomatoes and the paglia e fieno of strozzapreti with eggplant ragu, taggiasche olives and burrata were also delicious and I especially loved the green and plain strozzapreti. In Italian, ‘paglia e fieno’ means straw and hay and this is what Italians call these two-coloured pasta dishes.

Dei Cantoni, Longiano chittarrelli with swordfish
Chittarrelli with swordfish, capers and tomatoes

Even if you don’t make it to Longiano, you can give the Danilo's recipe for calamari carbonara a try. I have had to estimate the quantities because the chef wasn’t too specific about them for normal numbers. However, I used other calamari carbonara recipes as a guide. I’m planning to make it myself in the not too distant future but in the meantime, if you’re feeling a need for a culinary adventure, give it a go. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed!

Buon appetito!

(see the recipe on the page 2)


Pages: Page 1 Page 2

More Seafood & Lake Fish Pasta Recipes

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    Garganelli Pasta with Tuna Bolognese Recipe.
  • La Calamarata recipe in a bowl.
    La Calamarata (Calamari Pasta) Recipe
  • Anchovies pasta recipes.
    16 Pasta with Anchovies Recipes
  • Paccheri with Calamari from Naples.
    Paccheri Pasta with Calamari (squid) and Potatoes

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  1. Pamela Stankay-Sherry says

    March 17, 2021 at 10:59 am

    Hi Jacqui, I came across your beautiful website because I want to try to make my own lasagna sheets as two of us cannot tolerate gluten (sad face). I hear this is becoming more of an issue throughout Italy. If it has a place on your blog, we would be very grateful to hear from someone in the heart of the action (new companies, new products). We live in Switzerland and currently buy Barilla's gluten-free line.

    Reply
    • Jacqui says

      March 18, 2021 at 10:11 am

      Hi Pamela, thanks for your comment. I'm happy you like my website!! Yes, there's more demand for gluten free pasta here in Italy and many more companies are making it. I have to confess I've never tried it, although it's on my list of things to do this year because I want to add some gluten free recipes to the blog. I'm not a big Barilla fan but there are other companies I like that make gluten free pasta,for example Rummo (said to be one of the best for gluten free pasta in Italy). I also want to try making gluten free homemade lasagne sheets. Apparently you need to add xanthan gum to your dough when using gluten free flour. Alternatively, there are some companies that make a ready gluten free flour mix for fresh pasta. One I've seen recommended is Nutrifree https://nutrifree.it/i-tuoi-alimenti-senza-glutine/mix-per-pasta-fresca/ Perhaps you can find it in Switzerland or order from Italy. Let me know how you get on. All the best from Verona!

      Reply

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