Bologna is in the region of Emilia-Romagna, which is famous for its incredible food (and in Italy that's saying a lot). Every region and even every town has "cibi tipici" which are the local specialties. I recently had the idea of taking day trips to all the nearby towns in the region and trying authentic, inexpensive (around €15-20), and Italian-recommended local restaurants you might not find in the guidebooks. The kind of places the locals go.
I started with Modena, the home of balsamic vinegar, and went to Trattoria Aldina (Via Albinelli, 40). Modena is a gorgeous little town. If you go, you definitely need to check out the Albinelli covered market, which sells all of the incredible gourmet specialties along with fresh seafood, fruits, and vegetables. Trattoria Albinelli is across the street from it. It's very hard to find- the numbers jump from 36 to 42 and you can walk past the entrance four or five times (like the Dumbledore's Army headquarters) without realizing that it's through a door and up a flight of stairs. Head up to the second floor and to the right you'll find a bustling little restaurant, with sweet waitresses in red aprons and a line out the door.
There's no menu, you will be choosing from the 4-5 primis (usually pasta dishes), 2-3 secondis (meat) and 2-3 contornis (side dishes) that they prepare that day based on the freshest and best seasonal ingredients. My first choice was the Tortelloni di zucca alla modenese.
It was incredible. Tortelloni are large tortellini, and the pumpkin (zucca) filling was flavorful and slightly sweet. My favorite part was the sage on top, which must have been lightly cooked in some olive oil. Sprinkling some salty parmesan on top perfectly balanced the sweetness of the pumpkin and the subtle flavor of the fresh pasta. I had tried this dish once before at Trattoria Mariposa, and while it was delicious, the two didn't compare. The servings at Trattoria Aldina are also quite generous! The Tortellini di Zucca cost a mere €7 and the portion was perfect for lunch.
For my secondi, I asked our waitress to recommend something typical. She told me to try the Cotechino con purè e fagioli. Cotechino Modena is a fresh pork sausage and has IGP (also PGI) status, which means protected geographical indication. Basically the name, manufacturing, and basic recipe of this food is by law local to Modena. From what I understand, this protects some of the more famous regional traditional recipes.
Fun fact: Cotechino was invented around 1511 in a siege, when the citizens needed a way to preserve meat.
If you want to read more about Protected Geographical Status of foods, here's a link to the Wikipedia article. I found it very interesting and I'm excited to find some more of the products.
Cotechino is a fresh sausage, which means it's a lot softer than usual. I'd say it has the consistency of meatloaf. It is extremely tender and flavorful, and it practically melts in your mouth. It is served with purè (mashed potatoes) and lenticchie (lentils) or fagioli (beans, usually cannellini) and it is a traditional Italian New Year's dish. The lentils or beans symbolize wealth in the coming year, and are cooked with tomatoes, carrots, and spices. I can honestly say that I would never have thought to try a dish like this, and I am very grateful to our waitress for being to helpful and to everyone who helped me eat it! I don't usually get a secondi, but this wasn't too costly at €8.
So if you're headed to Modena, take the time to find the little door and flight of stairs to Trattoria Aldina (map). It's a wonderful local restaurant with nary a tourist in sight. If when your server reads off the list of daily dishes, you feel completely lost, ask them to pick for you. That's been my go-to strategy for six months in Italy and I've never been disappointed (usually I'm pleasantly surprised, and sometimes I'm absolutely ecstatic).
Grand total: €15
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