To Acqualagna 2/3 of the entire national production of the precious mushroom is collected. Known since the times of the Greeks and Romans, the Acqualagna truffle is also the protagonist of many amusing anecdotes involving important characters in our history. For Gioacchino Rossini, for example, it was the trigger for a real war, the so-called Macaroni War. The protagonist, Alexandre Dumas father who, invited to dinner by the composer to taste the real recipe of macaroni alla Neapolitan, found himself in front of a dish based on truffles, Macaroni alla Rossini, precisely. Deceived, he refused to taste it, unleashing Rossini's disappointment.

In the restaurants of Acqualagna it is an obligatory gastronomic stop, but for all cooking enthusiasts, here is the composer's original recipe, written on December 26, 1866.

«To be sure you can make good macaroni, you first need to have adequate pans. The dishes I use come from Naples and are sold under the name of lands of Vesuvius. The preparation of the macaroni is divided into four parts .

Cooking the pasta

Cooking is one of the most important operations and must be given the greatest care. We start by pouring the pasta into a previously prepared boiling broth; the broth must have been filtered; the pasta is then cooked over low heat after adding a few centiliters of cream and a pinch of bitter orange. When the macaroni have taken on a transparent color due to the degree of cooking, they are immediately removed from the heat and drained until they no longer contain water; you keep them aside before being arranged in layers.

The preparation of the sauce

Still in an earthenware pan, here's how it is done. For 200 g of macaroni you will get: 50 g of butter; 50 g of grated Parmesan cheese; 5 dl of broth; 10 g of dried mushrooms; 2 chopped truffles; 100 g of chopped lean ham; 1 pinch of four spices; 1 bunch of smells; 1 tomato; 1dl of cream; 2 glasses of champagne. Let it cook over low heat for about an hour; pass through the Chinese colander and keep in a water bath.

The preparation in layers

It is at this point that the ground pan of Vesuvius becomes necessary. After having lightly greased the pan with clarified butter and cooled, a layer of sauce is poured into it, then a layer of macaroni, which is covered with a layer of grated Parmesan and Gruyere cheese and butter; then another layer of macaroni which is covered in the same way; all wet with the sauce; then add a little breadcrumbs and butter to the last layer and put the pan aside for the gratin.

The gratin

The hard part is getting the dish to brown for the moment it has to be eaten.