Another highlight of Cattolica is the food: there are dozens of gastronomic activities ready to welcome you: authentic and sincere places, some loyal to tradition, some more innovative.

The first traditional product to try is, of course, “piadina”.
You can taste it filled with many different ingredients, such as ham, salami, vegetables, fish, cheese and so on, and it is an amazing delicacy to eat in every moment of the day. It is a classic street food but also works well as a sophisticated starter or a lazy lunch! The typical local piadina is filled with Sardoncini (grilled or marinated anchovies), plain salad and, sometimes, raw onions: while piadina is nowadays available all around Italy, this particular filling can be tasted only here.

And how can we forget the vast selection of cheeses and meats? In Cattolica you can have a taste of the iconic salami made with Mora Romagnola, an ancient breed of pig native of the region; or a bite of the typical Formaggio di fossa (pit cheese), which name comes from the
method of preparation, when the cheese is aged in rock or tuff pits.

One of our most iconic dish is Cappelletti: it consists of hand-crafted, ring-shaped pasta made with eggs and stuffed with cheese, mixed meats. The pasta is served in a clear chicken or beef broth (sometimes topped with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano) and represents the traditional festive food. You can also find it stuffed with fish and cooked in fish broth. Digging deeper into our food tradition, you can find Tagliatelle, a dish that is famous all over the world and represents Italian cuisine abroad. It consists of egg pasta, which is very thin and stretched by hand. Its most famous condiment is Ragù, a sauce made with tomatoes, ground meat, onions and carrots, but you can also find it with white sauce, peas, mushrooms, rabbit or duck sauce, beans, and so on.

A first course that you can find only in Romagna is Strozzapreti (literally “priests strangler”): a twisted pasta made only with flour and water, traditional of local poor cuisine. It can be seasoned with ragù, vegetables, meat, and fish. However, its best combination is with red sauce and Canocchie (a species of mantis shrimp): since the shrimps are chopped in pieces and eaten with hands, you cannot help yourself from licking both your lips and fingers.

Another kind of first course typical of Romagna is Passatelli: it is a pasta made with bread crumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, lemon zest and nutmeg. Its particular long shape is due to the preparation, since the dough is passed through a potato ricer directly into the boiling broth. It is typically cooked and served in meat, vegetables, or fish broth, but you can also find it strained and seasoned with fish or meat sauce.

Finally, a taste of the local Rustida is a must: it consists in a combination of different grilled fishes, seasoned only with oil, breadcrumbs, parsley and black pepper. The grilled fish represent the typical dish of sailors, and is usually served with plain salad & Piadina.